Moving On
by OnMyDiction
Summary: Natsu never really understood love... He felt it, and just like flames, he blazes with passion, regardless of who gets burned. This is a story of Fairy Tail, in which Natsu finds out why he truly gets 'Fired up', Gray strips, Cana drinks, Elfman is a man, and the Guild we all know and love deals with the various enemies that plot against them. (Nalu among other pairings) A few OC.
1. The Play

**Disclaimer:**

**Fairy Tail, I do not own**

**But this Gumbo... Is mine *Laughs maniacally* **

* * *

"I hate life sometimes", the young dragon slayer thought to himself while chilling rain dripped down his face. After Igneel left he had no one to talk to anyway, no one who cared about his spiraling depression or his pessimistic comments on life. Despite him being in a guild now not many people took him seriously… except her… He heard footsteps headed his way and braced for more insults. Instead he was presented with beautiful blue eyes, amazing white hair, and a comforting conversation. It was that day he found his new best friend, Lisanna. She taught him how to smile again, how to laugh again, how to love again… and he knew that they would be together forever…

***End Flashback***

"Natsu…. Naatttsuuu.. NATSU!"

"LISANNA!" Natsu's eyes shot open.

_'Just a dream?' _Natsu thought in his head after he took in his surroundings, after confirming that his thought was true he struggled to hold back the tears

"Natsu?" The blonde celestial mage switched from a biting, wrathful tone to a soft and sympathetic one in an instant.

" Sorry... I..." A tear nearly escaped.

Lucy tried to find soothing words for her friend, "I-I'm sorry Natsu…" she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for yelling at him earlier.

"It's ok Lucy, Besides _she_ wouldn't want me to be sad, I have to smile… for _her_", he said, quickly wiping away the lone tear that got away before flashing his signature toothy grin. "Come on, let's go get your rent mone- Wait a second… Are we on… A train?"

"Yes", Erza said calmly, making sure to guide her strawberry cake filled fork to her mouth with God-like precision after uttering her short statement.

"Shouldn't you be puki-", Gray couldn't even finish his sentence before Natsu felt his motion sickness kick in after his nap.

"Sh-sh-Shut up gray..." Natsu mumbled before he fell face-first into Lucy's lap

"EEEEK!", Lucy turned red as soon as it happened, %33 out of sheer embarrassment, %33 from aggression at Natsu's pervy intentions, and %34 from shaming herself on how she actually, kinda enjoyed it a little… He was extremely warm and surreptitiously she didn't want him to move. After the glares from passengers reverted the train's movement forced Natsu to face Lucy, even though he was fast asleep. She looked down at the pink haired dragon slayer and couldn't help but smile a little, he was one of her best friends after all, and he did introduce her to the guild, hell he practically made her dream come true.

_'He does look really peaceful like this... So innocent' _Lucy said to herself, while playing with his hair for a while.

***coughs*** "Ahem", the scarlet haired woman brought Lucy back to reality, causing her to blush slightly

"We're here" Lucy looked around confirming Erza's statement. She quickly stood up, making an unconscious Natsu fall on the hard floor.

"Ugggghhhhhh I hate trains!" Natsu said as he wobbled outside to caress the outside ground, " Mwahh I'm never leaving you again ground, mmm." Lucy shook her head at his reaction.

"Aww, Lucy's Jeeaalouuss!" happy made his first appearance of the day.

"Am not! " Lucy stuck her tongue out, quite the debater she was.

"Surrrre you aren't", happy made his sarcasm obvious.

"Enough, we need to get to this job done, we're at the Onibus train station now sooooo, we head this way", Erza pointed and the group followed.

"So what are we supposed to be doing here anyway? Is it another one of those crappy plays?" Natsu said, already regretting his decision to come along.

"Ugggghhhh I hate those!" Gray chimed in

"First off, those plays are not crappy, they're beautiful..." Erza paused to reminisce on her stellar performance with stars in her eyes, She quickly came back to earth to respond to the duo. "Secondly, no, we are not here to perform a play, and if you keep complaining I will BEAT THE FUCK OUT OF YOU!" The fire and ice mages trembled at her words and decided to keep their mouths shut for a while.

"Well let's just hurry and get this job done, you better not screw this up cold cunt."

"Shut it flame fag!"

Erza gave both of them a death-glare, they quickly hugged each other.

Lucy and happy chuckled at the sight of the two.

"Here we are"

Everyone looked up to see a beautifully aged building with bricks of multiple tones. There was an intricate design at the top of the building and a long line stretching down the road.

"Wait … This is the theater… ***gasps*** YOU LIAR!" Gray and Natsu shouted simultaneously.

Erza paid no attention to their comments and did a few vocal exercises.

"SURPRISE FAIRY TAIL MAGES!" a short purple haired man shouted to the group, "For all the work you all have done for me in the past, I invited you here to see a famous play, free of charge Doumo arigatou gozaimashita!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Oh and I'll give you 100,000 jewel each… except for the cat."

Everyone except Happy celebrated how easy this job was.

"That's racist", happy frowned

"You get all you can eat fish while you're here Arigatou gozaimashita"

"Aye Siiiir!"

"So what play are we watching?" Gray asked, breaking a momentary silence.

"_Romeo &amp; Juliet_", Rabian **(Labian?)** answered as quickly as Gray asked.

"Oi, Romeo's here? Macao mustve sent him for some reason, but alone? Did he decide to come here alone? I hope he isn't leaving the guild…Who is Juliet though? She might be controlling his mind or something." Natsu said, pondering the apparent conundrum with a finger on his chin.

The entire group facepalmed.

"Its the name of a play you jackass." Gray shouted angrily.

"Shut up man-whore! What kind of play is this though, I've never heard of it" Lucy jumped at the chance to explain the play.

"It's a very famous Shakespeare play, Natsu. A man falls in love with a woman that doesn't love him back, So he goes to a party just to see her and instead he finds love at first sight in Juliet, a young woman that's a descendant of a rival family, They share a kiss without even learning each other's names. Despite adversity their love grows stronger, Him, a Montague, and her, A Capulet... They form a bond of true love. Then the-"

"Lucy calm down with the fangirling sheesh...", Gray interrupted Lucy's plot synopsis.

The group shared a laugh.

"Alright well lets go find some seats then"

"Aye Siir"

The group finds seats on the front row. Erza sat on the edge of the row with Gray, Happy, Natsu, and Lucy sitting next to her respectively.

"When is this play gonna start?" Natsu whined, gaining the attention of some fellow patrons.

"Natsu keep it down please, I don't want to obliterate you right now."

Gray laughed silently

"Shh Gray it's starting", Happy said silently.

"We present to you _Romeo &amp; Juliet_", applause followed the man's statement, The play started after the applause settled down.

* * *

A few laughs, screams, and tears later, the play was over, leaving the cast to accept a standing ovation for their amazing performance. Natsu's reactions changed throughout the play, In the beginning he indulged in child-like mischief, shouting " That's what she said" and enjoying silent laughter with his best friend and rival Gray, but later on it was… different. The group went to collect their reward.

They all thanked the short man before heading back on the train station.

A discussion arose about the play while they walked, almost everyone had an equal part in it, Happy claimed he's Romeo and Carla is Juliet, without the tragic double-suicide of course, he thought that the ending should be the two flying off into the sunset with two kids and grilled fish. Erza thought that they were both too weak mentally, and claimed had it been her and some random blue-haired guy things could've gone better. Lucy claimed they didn't know each other enough to fall in love, now had he introduced her to all of his friends, and took her on misadventures it would've been more realistic. Gray responded to everyone's input comically, but provided none of his own.

Natsu walked ahead of the rest, silent the entire time.

"Oi, flame brain! What did you think of the play?"

Natsu shrugged, his unusually listless eyes were enough to signal something was wrong.

"Natsu... What's up with you?" Lucy stepped up, matching his walking speed.

He didn't respond, he quickened his pace to distance himself further.

"Erza, The play broke Natsu…" Happy began to show concern as well.

Erza walked up to Natsu, but before she could speak he was already seated on the train, They were all so involved in the conversation that they hadn't noticed that they were in the train station.

It was a quiet train ride back to Magnolia. No one bothered starting a conversation with Natsu, due to his motion sickness. He leaned onto the glass instead of Lucy's lap, watching the terrain pass by while he fought to hold his lunch down.

Once the train came to a halt, Natsu was the first one to hobble out before quickly walking in the direction of his house. He was stopped after his guild mates surrounded him.

"Flame Brain, We can't help you unless you tell us what's wrong…"

"Gray's right Natsu… Unless you're just giving us the silent treatment as a joke, then I'll just pummel you." Erza crossed her arms.

"I-I…" The dragon slayer had no words in response, he looked down, his hair covering his eyes while he sighed deeply.

"Natsu…" Lucy stepped toward him, she quickly noticed that talking about things like this, potentially emotional things that he couldn't be solved with brute strength or magical prowess, was not the dragon slayer's strong point. "We don't have to talk about that… How about you come over, we can watch movi-"

"No Lucy… All of you get out my face…" Lucy jumped at his words, Sure he had cut her off before but only jokingly. There was nothing funny about this situation though: his body movements were rigid, there was no goofy smile on his face, no child-like innocence in his eyes; His voice was cold and unloving, kind of like how her Dad sounded when she was a child, this realization chilled her to the bone. _Does Natsu hate me now? Did I do something wrong? Am I going to cry? No, I'm not a little girl anymore, Besides something is clearly wrong with him… Something serious, Because he never acts like this. _A thousand thoughts ran through the celestial mage's mind in a matter of seconds. She reached her hand out to grab Natsu but he wasn't there, his retreating figure was shrinking, the setting sun leaving a shadow, reminding her that he was actually there, and that that actually happened. Her emotions ranged from depression, worry for Natsu, to anger directed at Natsu, Hate for Natsu? Maybe…

"Damn Lucy… Even _I _thought that was cold." Gray snickered.

***Wakata Wakata Wakata Wakata***

Lucy was finally pulled out of her thoughts, she looked to Gray, and before she could scold him she noticed Erza was smacking him, making him look like a bobble-head.

"BAKA! You're making it worse!" Erza quickly threw the Ice mage onto the ground before confronting Lucy. "You alright? I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Hm? O-oh…. Yeah, sure. I'm gonna go home." The blonde headed home. It was dark outside, and the streets of Magnolia were not as bustling as they usually were. Sure there were a few people here and there, some on late-night dates, others preparing for night-shift jobs, some children playing games - most likely on borrowed time until their parents found out they weren't in bed. It didn't seem like it but this city never slept, There was always _someone_ on the streets... She stepped up to her door and unlocked it, as she walked in she locked it back.

"Ughhh… All things aside, That was an easy month's rent." She was sitting at her table, she activated her lacrima powered projection television and switched through some channels before deciding to watch some movies... alone. She was now watching some film about a guy stranded in a forest or something, he was talking to animals, and it was pretty funny so she left it on.

"I have to talk to Natsu about this tomorrow..." She looked down into the latte that Virgo had prepared for her.

_'That wasn't like him at all...' _she got into bed.

"Natsu… Are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" She fell asleep.

* * *

**The next day.**

The blonde celestial took a morning shower, melting away her troubles. She let her body relax, her mind unwinding through the heated liquid. She knew she had to talk to someone about something today, she couldn't remember what or who exactly.

She didn't really care at the moment.

She lathered soap all over her body, more giving herself a massage than cleaning. Her hands approached the task methodically, caressing her body in circular motions. She'd turn around, let the shower water douse her back while she lathered up her front, then she'd turn again, rinsing her front while she employed a few awkward arm movements to clean her back.

The struggle was real.

But after a while she decided she could only stay in the shower for so long. She put on a dragon t-shirt, a black skirt and some black knee high boots. She didn't care much of her appearance at the moment. She called out Cancer to do her hair a little, giving her a casual, partially messy look that she adored.

She looked in the mirror and steeled herself.

"Interrogation time!" she clapped her hands and headed to her favorite guild in the world.

She pushed open the doors, Saying hello to her fellow mages but diligently searching the sea of faces for pink hair.

A teasing barmaid brought her back to reality.

"Lucy! Looking for Natsu?" She winked, she asks Lucy that nearly everyday.

But today she was right.

"Actually yes, Have you seen him?"

"Oooohhhhhhhhh, but No I haven't seen your lover recently... Maybe check out his house... You've probably been there recently anyway." She teased.

"He is not my lover! And I should've thought of that... Ok, I'll see you later!"

Mirajane waved at her retreating figure. "Remember Lucy! Breathe through your nose!"

* * *

She walked through the forest, barely remembering where Natsu and Happy slept.

She saw the sign 'Natsu &amp; Happy' and knew she was in the right place instantly.

She knocked on the door, waiting patiently for the dragon slayer, hoping that he was here so they could talk about what was bugging him the other day, and maybe even get a few punches in for him being such a jerk. The door swung open and she was glad that he came, for a half of a second that is.

"Heyy Lusheee!" She looked down to see Happy, dressed in one of Natsu's shirts, she laughed at how outrageous he looked, but only for a while, she was here on serious business.

"Tell Natsu to come here..." she looked away so she wouldn't laugh anymore.

"Hmm.. ok" He closed the door and she could hear him flying around for a few minutes.

The door opened again, her fallacious happiness returned.

Happy looked up at her, " Natsu's not here..." He scratched his head.

"-_- You couldn't tell me that before!?" She shouted and ran back to guild to continue to look for him.

After she was gone, Happy turned around and shut the door.

"She gone?" Natsu was lying in his hammock (technically in two ways).

"Yes... But you're gonna have to talk to people soon, you can't stay here forever you know?." Happy hopped onto the couch, Using Natsu's shirt as a blanket.

"Watch me..."

* * *

**5 Days Later**

It's been about a week since the Onibus job, and no one in the guild has seen Natsu since, everyone was at the guild except for him, people had varied reactions.

From 'Ohh nooo, I hope he's okay...'

To 'Fuckkk yeaaah! Vacation from Flame-Brain! Whoop Whoop! Lalalalalaaala Hai Hai hai Haaiiii!'

And even the occasional...

"Where's Salamander!? I haven't fought him in a while, he's overdue for an ass-kickin'!" Gajeel was getting a bit more rowdy than usual, maybe it was the universe's way of supplementing Natsu's absence.

Lucy shook her head and continued to drink her milkshake.

"We haven't seen him either Gajeel. Fire fag's probably at his house feasting on some chicken and steak right now."

"Eh, Fuck em... LITTLE GIRL! COME AT ME!" He pointed to Wendy, who quickly shook her hands vigorously.

"Don't fight Wendy! FIGHT A MAN!" Elfman uppercut the Iron Dragon slayer, sending him flying backwards.

"Calm down you two." Mirajane spoke from behind the bar, hoping to contain the fight before anyone else joined in.

"TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!?" Elfman threw a chair at Gray, pissing the ice mage off enough to get him to join the two.

A few punches, kicks, beast arms, ice make moves, and iron clubs later, they decided to recruit more fighters.

" Aye DROY! JET!" The dragon slayer shouted, gaining their attention.

"What steel-face?" Droy turned to him.

"Wassup Gajeel?" Jet did the same.

The iron dragon slayer sprinted to the two, bringing his voice down to a whisper so only they could hear.

"Levy is never gonna love you two, You might as well settle for each other..." His comment was more than enough to get them both involved in the battle royale taking place.

Everyone expected Erze to shout " ENOUGH!" when she stood on the table, instead she had a different announcement. "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!? IS THIS NOT WHY YOU ARE HERE!?" She then drop-kicked the iron dragon slayer before landing swift punches on the other "contestants".

"Now... I'm leaving for a job, You all behave yourselves." Erza walked out of the guild and due to recent fist-to-face destruction, no one dared swing a punch at the moment.

A few minutes of pain later...

"So... You all wanna play Cloak, Sword, Boulder? (Paper,scissors, Rock)" Gajeel stood up, barely though, When Erza kicks ass she does so thoroughly.

"Sure, I won't lose! I'm a strategic MAN!" Elfman got into postion, Gajeel did the same.

"Cloak, Sword, Boulder!" They yelled simultaneously with closed eyes. Elfman raised both hands over his head as if he were holding a large boulder over his head, Gajeel took a sword-fighting stance. "FIGHT!" They both yelled and opened their eyes.

"Tch..." Gajeel prepared for what was to come, Elfman punched him in the face twice as hard as he could.

"Is a Man ready to go again?"

"Phrasing Elfman... Phrasing." Cana laughed before drinking some more.

"SCREW THIS GAME! I WANT SALAMANDER!" Gajeel raged, ready to fight the rival dragon slayer.

"Forget Spark sissy! He'll be back soon enough... Until then fight me!" Gray spoke up, causing the second round of the brawl to commence, despite Erza's previous warnings.

* * *

****Happy's POV****

"Good Morning Natsu!" I flew around, doing what I do best, being happy, well no... I eat fish the best! But eating fish makes me happy, Whatever.

"Ugh...Morning..." Natsu rubbed his eyes.

"Let's go to the guild, It's so boring here..." I sat on his chest. "C'mon, Get up Natsu..." I try to pull him up.

I can't...

Have you seen me?

He's heavier than Lucy!

"No Happy... I'm staying here, Go if you want to."

"Ok Mr. Grumpy Pants, I'll bring you some food back." I flew out of the house reluctantly, Leaving Natsu alone with whatever it was he's been doing this past week. He's been acting so different lately...

Maybe he wants a fish dinner...

I flew around while thinking about him... and Carla, but mostly him.

I really do hope he does feel better soon.

I opened the guild doors, flying in to greet everyone, there was a big fight going on, so not many people noticed me.

Super heavy Lucy was not one of those people.

"Happy! Where's Natsu!?" She ran over to me, I hope she doesn't fall on me.

I haven't gotten to share a fish dinner with Carla yet.

I haven't been able to eat wing-fish correctly yet.

I haven't caught the world's biggest fish yet...

There's so much to do! I can't die here!

"Happy!" She screamed again, I forgot what she asked me before, It's hard to listen when your life is in danger.

"What did you say Lucy?"

"Where... Is... Natsu... I need to talk to him!" She was really anxious.

She lllikes him.

"You lllike him!"

"No I don't!"

Yes she does.

"Yes you do!"

She clearly likes Oto- I mean Natsu!

"No! I'm just worried, he was acting weird last week, and no one has seen him in a while..." She looks so sad.

Even heavy people shouldn't be sad.

I really wish I didn't have to make Lucy sad...

But what Natsu said...

* * *

_"Wait a second Happy..." He walked up behind me._

_"If you tell anyone I'm at our house...If you even THINK of it, I'll tie you down..." His eyes look red..._

_Natsu's scary..._

_"I'll lock you away, where no one will find you..."_

_Nooo, Don't hurt me Natsu, don't do this!_

_"Then... I'll become a Hardcore Mira-level 'Carly' shipper..."_

_I don't even wanna know what a Carly shipper is... It sounds so..._

_Malicious._

_Evil._

_Iniquitious..._

_Just all out wrong._

_ But my mouth..._

_My stupid, stupid mouth just had to ask..._

_"What's that?"_

_My soul isn't prepared for the next thing he says._

_"That means I'll get Pantherlily and Carla together..." He smiled wickedly, his evil plan concocted out of pure hatred for mankind... A few shattered souls and hearts being the primary seasoning, His stirring spoon crafted purely out of despair... Served with a side of the fish of death. His dish, is so beyond comprehension, so outrageously befuddling that you can never understand the emptiness you'll feel... Not until you take a bite..._

_I'm not hungry right now..._

_"I-I w-w-wo-won't say anything!"_

* * *

"Happy! Wake up!" Lucy shook me.

I need to lie, and do it fast.

"He left last week! I haven't seen him since then!"

Yes, Happy, Ya done good.

"Oh..." She looks so sad...

A tiny angel happy with white wings flew over my right shoulder.

_You have to tell her Happy... _he spoke in a soft voice.

A small and equally cute demon Happy appeared on the other side.

_**NO YOU DON'T Happy!**_

_Yes you do! This is wrong! She's worried..._

_**CARLA WON'T be worried when she kissin' Pantherlily! Do you want that!? HM!? Do YA!?**_

_Lucy might cry Happy... Do it for Lucy._

**_Do it for Carla!_**

"Do it for the vine!" I screamed.

"You ok Happy?"

"Noooo" I shook my head

I hear voices in my head, They council me they understand...

_They talk to meeee..._

**_THEY TALK TO MEEE!_**

"What's wrong !?" Lucy is concerned.

She's as nice as she is heavy...

Her being sad makes me sad, I can't just watch this.

"I-I'm okay! I'll tell you when Natsu get's back! You'll be the first to know."

"Oh Thanks Happy! I have to kick his butt you know!" She hugged me, she's so Happy.

That makes me Happy.

I fly away from the guild and pick up some food.

If I'm Happy... Natsu will be happy too!

* * *

**Finally got chapter one rewritten... Finally, Hope you enjoyed. Until next time.**


	2. The Calm

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters. I do, however, own this crepe with chocolate ganache :)**

* * *

It all happened about two weeks ago. Before that play, and a long line of introspective thoughts (something our friendly neighborhood dragon slayer was obviously not used to), Natsu went about life as easily as a person could. He didn't have bills to worry about, he had a steady line of work in the guild, and he was one of the strongest people he knew. After Lisanna's death he always found a way to be busy: When he wasn't fighting, he was training; when he wasn't training, he was eating; when he wasn't eating, he was asleep. However, on the rare occasions in which he had free time, the times when he'd usually sneak into Lucy's apartment, he would brood in the dark while he reflected on his life's mistakes. You could tell he wasn't himself during time by several things, first off he was crying a bucket or two every day, Secondly he was spending way too much time in his house, and thirdly he actually cleaned up a little... He was so desperate to stay busy without leaving his home that he cleaned up...

"Happy!" Natsu shouted while doing push-ups.

"Go pick up some groceries, there's a list on the board" _9,980...9,981..9,982..9,983 _Natsu counted in his head.

"Aye sir!" Happy flew over to the board and looked over the list. "You must be making miso glazed pork today huh?"

"Yea, I've had a taste for it recently." _9,989..9,990..9,991_

"Natsu.." You could hear the tone in Happy's voice change.

"Yeah?" _9,992..9,993..9,994_

"When are you going back to the guild? They've been worried..."

"Whenever I feel like it." Natsu's tone and momentary pause in exercise made his displeasure with Happy's question quite clear.

Natsu was feeling a little lonely recently, even though Happy was there with him... It was a different type of loneliness that the young dragon slayer couldn't understand yet, and one that no one in the guild could cure... That most people at the guild couldn't cure. He was feeling depression because of Lisanna's death and anger at himself for things he did and didn't say... He knew he was firing some of his misguided anger at Happy, a person that didn't deserve any of it, this made Natsu take on a softer tone. "They'll be fine Happy, besides soon as I go back Erza's gonna scold me, Gray's gonna be fight me , Lucy's gonna yell at me for invading her privacy, whatever that means.. and everything will be how it was before... They might even thank me for giving them a break." he said with a laugh, knowing he was a bit too awesome for his guildmates at times.

"Aye Sir!" Happy said while flying out of the house, he was glad to hear Natsu laugh again, it had been two weeks since he did.

* * *

Happy was flying through the streets of Magnolia with the necessary ingredients when he saw Erza alongside Lucy, Gray, and Juvia.

_Crap, here come's the interrogation._ He thought in his head while smiling at them.

"Heyy Happy!, What're you up to?"Lucy shouted, surprised to see the blue exceed without Natsu beside him. This made her a little sad while she stared at the empty space.

" Heyy guys!" Happy responded.

"Where's Natsu?" Erza asked, She was concerned about her punching bag.

"Yeh where's the flame retard been? We haven't seen him in like two weeks'

"Ahhhh Gray-sama said we! He means me and him are an item!" Juvia shouted joyfully.

"No, I mean the guild hasn't seen Natsu in like two weeks..." Gray stated, much to Juvia's dismay.

Lucy didn't say anything, her face made her worry clear.

"He's at our house right now, and he's uhhh... um." Happy didn't want to tell them Natsu was crying at home, that would soil his good reputation. Imagine how villains would react, Happy put a hand to his mouth and stared at the sky to daydream.

Boss of the Gang: Wait... You're the salamander! Strongest crybaby of Fiore!

Gang members: *Laugh hysterically* Yeh YOU WEAKLING BABY!

Boss of Gang: UUUHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHEEHEHEHAHA!

Two snapping fingers brought Happy back to reality.

Erza was on her knees snapping to the exceed to wake him up.

"Oh. What happened?" Happy looked around.

Gray brought Happy up to speed, "Well.. We asked you where Natsu has been, You said He's at your house right now, then you fumbled with your words, you whispered to yourself a bit then laughed like 'Oooohooohooohooohooo'."

" Sorry Gray-sama, Happy's laugh was more like 'Aheeheheeheheee'."

"Both of you are wrong it was clearly, 'AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAA'." Erza leaned back and held her hands out menacingly, her eyes widened and her teeth got sharper somehow.

Happy took a few steps back.

"Well... what I meant to say was Natsu is very very very sick with uhh... Dragonitis!" Happy had his lie all figured out now, it was perfect.

"Yeh, yeh and you can't go see him because.. Because it's highly contagious!"

The group looked shocked, their faces bathed in worry for the pink-haired mage.

"Wait... Why aren't you sick?" Erza looked at Happy, she was very curious.

"Oh umm... Because it doesn't affect boys!"

This caused the group to make a ('_') face.

"Sooooo... Natsu is a girl?" Gray asked, you could tell he was flabbergasted.

"Well he might as well be with all the crying." Happy covered his mouth a bit too late.

"Why's Natsu crying?!" Lucy shouted, seeing through Happy's facade.

" Ummm" Happy looked at his wrist "Oh look at the time, bye-bye" He flew away.

"YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A WATCH!" Lucy yelled at the retreating cat.

"Don't worry Lucy, I'm sure he's fine." Juvia patted Lucy's shoulder.

_And as soon as he is better, You will be with each other and Gray-sama will be all mine..._

_And then we'll make sweet love by moonlight.._

_And our baby will be conceived _

_We shall name her Juvia_

_And she shall be ours_

_And she shall be our Juvia_

_Gray-sama's Juvia..._

_Juvia's Juvia._

"Umm, You know we hear you right?"

Juvia paused as Erza and Gray stared at her.

She ran away blushing.

Lucy was still looking at the sky thinking about Natsu.

"Hey.. Erza can I talk to you privately for a second?" She said silently.

They snuck away while Gray stood there dumbfounded.

They walked to Lucy's apartment.

Lucy made sure the door and window were both locked so they wouldn't be intruded on.

"Erza..."

"Hmm?"

"You think Natsu may be mad at me or something?" She looked down in embarrassment of even asking that question.

"Happy said he was crying, Not angry..."

"He also called Natsu a girl..." Her comment made Erza laugh a little.

"What would make you think he's mad at you though?"

"I don' know... just since we all went to Onibus he hasn't been to the guild, And remember the last thing he said to me? It's like I did something... I don't know what though." She played with her hair.

"You're just worried Lucy... You know Natsu's an idiot, he'll be fine after a while. He could never be mad at you." Erza smiled.

"Hmmm.. Ok..." Lucy responded with a smile equal in beauty to Erza's.

* * *

It's been about a month now since the job team Natsu went on to the Onibus theater, and ever since Natsu has been distant to his guildmates. Happy finally encouraged Natsu to get out of the house to go on a job.

"Hey where the hell ya been flame fag! Let's Arm wrestle!" Natsu paused to look at Gray, then continue walking to the request board. Gray's face was painted with disappointment.

"It's ok Gray-sama! We can arm wrestle... naked."Juvia said as she jumped on Gray's back.

"Be a MAN and please your woMAN gray!"

The dragon slayer ignored the commotion behind him and surveyed the board for jobs that wouldn't require a mode of transportation other than his feet then spoke his first words in a while, " Cool, This job is pretty close". He then headed out of the guild to complete it. When he reached the door Lucy was walking into the guild.

"Hey Natsu! How have you been!? Why were you being mean!? But anyway, Good morning! I was so worried! Happy said you were cryi-" you could hear the surprise in her voice, this is the first time she's seen him since the Onibus job.

Natsu cut her off didn't respond to her questions, "I have a job to finish, see you later." Is all he said before he walked off.

Lucy watched him walk away and she headed to the bar with her head hanging low.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Mira leaned on the bar.

"I don't know... Natsu's acting really weird."

"Ahh so love troubles hmm?" Mira said while preparing a milkshake for Lucy.

"What!? Nooo I'm just concerned about him is all!"

Mirajane stared at her for a while, as if she was trying to read Lucy's mind, " Nah, I think you're in love... I won't keep bothering you if you aren't though."

"It's not like that, I just want him to act normal again is all, I miss him..." she sadly sipped her milkshake.

* * *

**Meanwhile, on the streets of Magnolia Town.**

_Hmm this map is weird… Uh, oh whoops False alarm, its upside-down._

"Ok so I'm headinnngg, west? Yeh west. To Balsam village"

Natsu overheard some people discussing a play they just saw in Onibus and Natsu couldn't help but tear up a bit. _That play was so sad, is that how life is supposed to be? _Natsu shook his head at the thought, trying to persuade himself to stop. _No, Life's always happy, Everything is happy… I'm happy. Then again… Lisanna is dead, and that's pretty sad. I know she wouldn't want me thinking like this, so why is it so hard to stop? _Natsu's train of thought was broken by outside stimuli.

"Excuse me, Do you know where the Fairy Tail guild is located?" A male that was slightly taller than Natsu spoke to the dragon slayer, He had spiky white hair that didn't reach his shoulders (Imagine Zancrow's hairstyle, but shorter) and gray eyes. His left hand had a solid diamond ring on three fingers, each with an intricate design and a vantablack bracelet on his wrist. His right arm was covered mostly by an arm sleeve, and the back of his right hand was embedded with a pattern. It was a Diamond spiral that started at the base of his index finger and swirled around, it seemed to go on forever. He wore all-black pants that were slightly baggy with a pair of black knee-high boots. He also had on a loose fitting t-shirt that said "I don't use charm magic, But you wouldn't know".

"What business do you have with Fairy Tail?" Natsu replied while turning slightly to show his Fairy Tail symbol.

"Oh, You must be the Salamander, It's and honor to meet yo-" He stopped speaking because Natsu was getting impatient, "Sorry, I just have to speak with the Master, It's nothing serious I promise."

"…"

Silence… Every quiet second increased the tension in the air ten-fold. The man was about to break the silence by thanking Natsu for his time but he didn't get to speak before the dragon slayer did.

"Ok… Well Fiary Tail is that way, You'll know when you're there" Natsu said while pointing in the general direction.

The man smiled and nodded, "Domo arigatou." While headed to the guild, He was stopped by a hand grabbing his shirt. He turned around to see that Natsu's face had gotten serious.

"What's your name" Natsu asked

"Oh, Sorry... I'm Jomei"

"Jomei… If you hurt any of my guildmates I will destroy you." Natsu growled while letting go of Jomei's shirt.

Jomei didn't return his aggression though. He simply nodded and gave Natsu a smile, thanking him again. He then headed for the guild.

* * *

**Back at the guild**

It was a pretty normal day at the guild. Cana was getting wasted, Levy had her face in a book, Jet and Droy stared at her from afar, Mirajane was behind the bar being beautiful, Erza enjoyed some cake, Fried was daydreaming about Laxus, Elfman was talking about how his clothes are a Man from having contact with a Man like ElfMan for such a manly amount of time, and Natsu and Gray were fighti- Oh wait, no Natsu. Lucy didn't need to go on a job any time soon since for the first time in her independent life she had money to blow. Since there was no rush today she was just at the guild watching everything happen.

" Excuse me..." time stopped in the guild, Elfman stopped talking, Levy stopped reading, and Juvia stopped stalking Gray.

Everyone turned their attention to Jomei… except Cana, who was still drinking.

" Can you please take me to your leader?"

Silence.

"ALIEN!" A few guild members screamed before running around like headless chickens. Erza shook her head at the sight.

"No nonononono I mean I need to see Makarov.. Im not an alien" a laugh slipped out with his words.

"He's this way, up the stairs" Mirajane pointed to the master's office.

"Domo arigatou" he said, bowing to Mira, He headed up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Makarov opened the door.

"Makarov-sama" Jomei bowed and asked to come inside to ask Makarov a question.

"Sure, come in" Makarov opened the door allowing Jomei to enter. They both took a seat.

"Now, Who are you and what did you want to ask?" He had the Guild Master's curiosity.

" My name is Jomei Nakamura, I'm a Gem God Slayer. I wante-"

"Wait, Gem God Slayer magic. Where did you learn that?"

"My father taught it to me… I never got a chance to ask him where he learned it…"

Makarov could tell this was a sensitive topic for Jomei, so he decided to change the topic of the conversation.

"So.. Jomei, where are you from and why are you here?"

"I was born in Crocus, and my parents raised me there. I was so weak as a child, no one ever believed I could be a mage except my parents, they always told me with hard work I could be a stronger mage than they'd ever be… They were right. My mother and father used to go to the mountains outside the city to train, I started going with them. I trained every day alongside them for about 5 hours a day. I continued this training regiment until I was 14. Then they went on a simple 2 week job, they knew I was strong enough to protect myself so they left me some jewel for food. I still trained after that but not as much, Most of my time was spent waiting.. Two weeks passed and I waited… A month… A year.. Two years… Then I was sure that they weren't coming back. So I left Crocus to look for them, I decided that I would search all of earth land for them. I searched for about a year to no avail..." He looked down, going silent for a while.

"I figured after searching place after place I'd need a home to come to, not shelter... A home, and Crocus just isn't home without them there... So... I was hoping Fairy Tail could be my home..."

Makarov looked at him with tears in his eyes.

"Ok Jomei… We'll be happy to have you here... Welcome home." Makarov smiled.

Jomei was sure they wouldn't let him join.

His reaction made that clear.

After what seemed like 30 minutes of Jomei crying and thanking master Makarov he headed down the stairs to get his Fairy Tail stamp.

"I'll get it right here." he pointed to the left-side of his neck. Mirajane nodded and placed a black Fairy Tail stamp on his neck.

"Thanks so much Mirajane-san"

"No problem, and call me Mira"

"And call me tonight." Cana interrupted before drinking a few more gallons of beer. Always with the moderation.

Jomei put his elbow on the bar so that he was face to face with Cana.

"Nice to meet you tonight, tonight. I'm Jomei" the two shook hands.

"Enough with these introductions, LETS FUCK SHIT UP!" he shouted, showing his rowdy side.

"WELCOME JOMEI!" The guild members screamed while they threw him an impromptu welcome party.

* * *

**In Balsam Village**

"Oi, I'm Natsu from Fairy Tail, What did you need me to do here" He stood outside the building, confused as to why they needed a mage at a spa.

"Someone has been caught peeking several times in the past month, Some men are ok with her presence but others… aren't comfortable enough with their bodies. Either way, we've lost a lot of business because of this pervert so we need you to get rid of her however you can"

"This is such a waste of time… But I need to get my mind off some things so.. I'm in."

"Excellent, Inform us when the deed is done." Natsu nodded in response

He walked to the male side of the spa and "hid" in a bush.

After a few minutes of sleuthing he saw a brown haired woman in a green dress.

"EVERGREEN!?"

The woman turned around, surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"W-w-why are you he-"

"Don't even finish your sentence evergreen. I've been at my house.. Crying my eyes out in solitude and you're running around sneaking peeks at naked guys, You never know how insignificant your life is to others."

"Umm. What's wrong with you? Your thought process is depressing as hell."

"I've just been thinking about Lisanna a lot lately… It's tearing me to shreds too. After we went to see _Romeo &amp; Juliet _it just got worse and worse. Sometimes it feels like I don't even want to do anything anymore, recently nothing feels the same without her…"

Evergreen wiped her eyes," You think she would want you to live like that? Stop being so selfish… She's gone and she may be in a better place but she's still away from her family and friends… You're still here with all of them, acting like you're all alone when you aren't is a slap in Lisanna's face! Not to mention the guild members, they're probably worried sick about you. No matter how much it hurts you to keep living life to the fullest you have to, for Lisanna… for everyone"

"Tch….. The day I get lectured by a peeper." A few tears rolled down his face.

"Ok… I'll start livi- I-.. I'll try to start living life to the fullest again… But I'm gonna need you to stop peeping."

"Deal." They shook hands. Afterwards Natsu collected his Jewel and headed home. _'A slap to Lisanna's face huh? Well that's the last thing I wanna do… I have to start having fun again. Maybe tomorrow though I've been up all day'_

* * *

**In Fiore's strongest guild**

"Alright.. ***hiccup*** Drinking contest numbaaa 3 ***hiccup*** Jomei versuuuu Tonighhtt!"

***30 alcohol filled minutes later***

"The winner... And still the alcohol champion of the wooorrrllddd Cana!" Mirajane lifted her fellow mage's arm.

The guild members all cheered.

"Anything you wanna say to your fans out there Cana?"

"Hai Mira Hai, Hai. Umm I just wanana say. That dreams are juss ***hiccup*** stops inya future that wif uh lil' hard work ***hiccup*** can eeeezzeellee be accomplishhhhhh sh shh shhh " she sat on the table next to an unconscious Jomei whom she had soundly beaten.

"Cana is 100 percent MANNNN!"

Lucy laughed outrageously at the two contestants, she had a bit to drink herself. Everyone in the guild was having fun... Except Natsu _'I hope he starts acting normal soon..'_ she thought while she waved goodbye to everyone and headed home.

Lucy was clearly a little drunk, as she didn't even try to walk the edge of the road as usual. However, she considered herself a social drinker so she can't handle as much alcohol as other's in the guild,especially Cana. So when she did drink it was like a lady. She finally made it to her apartment.

Lucy unlocked her door and stepped in before locking it back. Normally she takes a bath before bed but she was just too tired today. She quickly switched into her pajamas, then rubbed her eyes and lay in bed, falling fast asleep.

* * *

Lucy squirmed in bed and woke up. It was really warm in her apartment, not hot, like a really relaxing warm, A bath after a long day warm. It was a warm that was so comfortable that she forgot what being cold was like. She opened her eyes and looked at her bed-side clock. "5:00 a.m? Ugh… why did I wake up so early? The sun isn't even up yet" She noticed as she looked around her dark room, and this wasn't your everyday darkness. This was... Advanced darkness. "However, I could get an early look at the request board for the best jobs…" She weighed the pros and cons in her head for a while.

.

.

"Nahhh, I'm going back to sleep." She rolled over in her bed to get more comfortable. After doing so something felt… Right. She couldn't explain what it was but it felt right regardless. Felt a little amazing actually. She nuzzled further into this feeling and held it as tight as she could. It felt like happiness, it felt as if she could just melt into this feeling and avoid all of life's troubles for a while, it was something she never felt before. She had no idea what it was but she wasn't going to question it... Just ignorantly enjoy this bliss for as long as she had it. She slowly let it lull her to sleep…

.

.

.

**Lub dub**

**.**

**.**

**Lub dub**

"Nani?"

**Lub dub**

"What the fuck is wrong with my bed?!"

**Lub dub**

She quickly got up from her bed to see what that feeling came from.

"N-natsu!?" she shouted waking up the dragon slayer.

"Whaaaatttt Lucy? Sheesh.. people are trying to sleep…" Natsu whined while partially rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Natsu why the hell are you in my bed!?"

"Umm. To sleep? What the fuck else do people get in beds for?" Lucy blushed at his statement.

"I mean… Why are you here? No one has seen you in like a month.. Where have you been?! We've been so worried!"

"Shhhh keep it down Lucyy it's like 5 in the morninggg!" he whined while writhing in bed.

"Are you telling me to keep it down in my apartment!? I RUN SHIT HERE!" There was a knock on the door.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW GODDAMN EARLY IT IS IN THE MORNING!? SHUT THE FUCK UP!" The landlady was just as blatant as Lucy was and she definitely got the duo to shut up for a while.

"Lushhee I'll talk to you later but please just go back to sleep, please..." Natsu said silently trying not to get on the Landlady's bad side.

Lucy sighed, "I guess you're right. So you can head home now, I'll see you tomorrow."

"You want me to get up and walk home at 5? Im already so comfortable though, I can't even get fired up this early, what if someone tried to jump me on the str-"

"OK..." She interrupted because she knew he would whine for an hour or two. "Ok, I am really too tired to deal with this... Scooch over and do _not_ get any ideas." Lucy said as she reluctantly got back in bed.

She lay cuddling her pillow trying to recreate the feeling from before but failed miserably.

A few minutes passed.

"Come back over here please Lucy... You smell nice, I promise I wont do anything." Natsu practically whispered in her ear. This turned her face tomato-red.

"U-u-umm.. o-okay..I guess I could" She replied trying to hide her excitement. She slowly moved back to the comfortable position she had before. She nuzzled her face into his chest again, allowing him to smell her hair and giving her that melting feeling she had before. He had one arm around her and she had a snug grip on him with both arms. Subconsciously her leg intertwined with his. This is the most comfortable she has ever felt in her bed… in any bed. She quickly fell asleep.

* * *

"Damn happy I thought you were just kidding... Here's your 20,000 jewel"

"Told you Jomei! They llllike each other. Thanks for the fish money"

"Whatever brahh... Welp I'm heading back to the guild to give Mira the good news... She always teases these two so she should know."

"You just want an excuse to talk to her! You lllllike her!" Happy teased the new member.

"Shut the fuck up cat.. But keep it down you don't wanna wake them do you?"

The two quietly unlocked the door and exited the room before locking it back.

* * *

**Breaking news from the Fairy Tail guild.**

"Waddupp guildmates?!" Jomei kicked open the door.

Gray walked up to him, "Hey let's go on a job, I wanna see you fight!"

"No problem I'm about to go on a solo one soon, I should be back later today, then we can go... I wont be 100% though, I barely slept last night." Jomei responded happily. _'Note to self, Never drink alcohol again. Scratch that.. Never ever EVER Drink alcohol again.'_

"That's cool, Don't expect anything easy, Fairy Tail mages never back down from a challenge." Jomei smiled at his response before nodding.

"Second Love rival." Juvia was peeking from behind the bar with an intense glare.

"You lost like a MAN last night Jomei!"

Jomei laughed at his choice of words, "Thanks Elfman, Hey where's your sister?"

.

"Why does a man need to know where my sister is?" Elfman took on a serious tone.

"Whoa, I'm just gonna back away slowly ok? Ok."

Elfman slapped Jomei's back, "That joke was a MAN! But Mira's behind the bar as always..."

The two shared a laugh.

The entire guild responded to him joyously, like he had been there for years when he actually just got there yesterday. They all gave him this warm feeling that he hasn't felt in years.

_'Is this how home feels? I've missed this...' _he thought with a smile.

He walked up to the bar and saw Cana and Mira chatting it up.

"Yo, Mira, tonight, how are you two?"

"Hey Jomei." Mira smiled like she always does.

"My name is Cana!" she smirked at his consistency in jokes.

"Hmmm really? Cause I could've sworn you told me to call you tonight last night, So I figured I could call you tonight this afternoon, tonight, and maybe even tomorrow night, I guess I can call you tonight in the morning too." he shared a laugh with Mira.

"I always come to the guild in the afternoon though, we probably won't even see each other in the morning." Cana stated matter-of-factly.

"We could see each other in the morning, tonight. Actually I could be the first thing you see in the morning, tonight"

Cana sucked her teeth and took another swig of her drink.

"I win!" Jomei high-fived Mira.

"You may be the better drinker, tonight, But I'm the master of flirtation!" He grinned. "But all jokes aside. Mira... I have a secret to tell you..." he took on a serious tone.

"Well Jomei, It's no secret that the best thing about a secret, is secretly telling someone your secret, thereby secretly adding another secret to their secret collection of secrets, secretly..." Her quote made Jomei laugh a bit.

"Well... Happy and I caught Natsu and Lucy love-cuddling in her bed."

.

.

.

"AHHHHHHHHH I KNEW IT!"Mira squealed. "I knew it... Lucy is such a liar, Love is in the air" she blushed.

"Is it really? I need to go buy a gas mask." Cana stated.

"You got something against love?" Jomei responded jokingly.

"Not at all, It's just that meaningless sex is better... No strings attached and no feelings hurt..." Both Mira and Jomei could tell she'd been hurt before, they looked a little saddened by this fact.

"Sorry Cana..." Jomei said patting her on the shoulder.

"Its ok." She responded with a smile, turning the initial awkward silence into a comfortable one.

"Mira they might still be there... Come with me" he grabbed her hand and carried her out.

* * *

They climbed up to Lucy's window and crawled over the two in bed to stand in her room.

"Awwww they look so peaceful... "

" Yeh.. They do..." Jomei said as he sat on the blonde's chair. He instantly got comfortable and started flipping through channels with the volume low so he wouldn't awake the couple. He patted his leg, "C'mon Mira, Tell Santa Claus what you want for Christmas." He smirked, expecting to see her blushing, he loved doing that to females for some reason. He was genuinely surprised when she followed his instructions.

"Hm... I'm not even sure I'm on the nice list though... Can you check for me Santa?" He could her voice change, as if she pouted.

_'Don't look her in the face... Don't do it... Why are you doing it? Damn you. Baka...'_

"U-um... S-su-sure M-m-m-mira."

"Aww Jomei... You're stuttering, That's so cute...I've never seen you flustered."

"I-I'm n-not flustered.." He shook his head, feeling his face heat up.

"You are now... You want me to move so you can calm down?" She smiled.

"NO! I mean- Um, Erm, S-stay here if you, p-please..."

"Only because you asked nicely..." she wrapped her arms around him and breathed into his neck.

"Pft, Miraaa, stop breathing pfftt It tickles!" He was about to burst out in laughter, he quickly turned to face her, nudging her face back with his nose, the cute gesture made her laugh a little.

"Nothing's funny here Mira." He put on a serious face, making her laugh again.

"Let's just... Watch T.V." He started flipping through channels as he started getting more comfortable around the barmaid.

"Ohhhh Tom &amp; Jerry. Let's watch that!" Mirajane shouted and pointed at the television like a kid.

"Shhhshh keep it down, and Ok we'll watch it." he grabbed her hand and pulled it back down, placing it on her thigh, and subconsciously letting his own linger there.

They laughed at the cat's persistence and the mouse's ingenuity.

"You know I always thought there was some symbolism in this show." Jomei interrupted their laughter.

Mira offered a comment "You mean how Jerry represents us and tom is death? How the show symbolizes our pathetic attempts to find meaning in life while running away from an inevitable death at the same time, How we even tease death sometimes to feel even more alive?"

.

Silence...

"... I love you", Jomei's stare was intense and his voice was below a whisper

" What?"

"Oh... W-What!? I said...Olive Juice!"

"Olive juice?"

"Olive juice you too." he responded with a smile. "But um... You wanna um, do something later on? I mean you know, like a um... Not a... Y-you know, N-not like that but...something? Um anything really, just y-"

"That'd be nice..." She leaned onto his chest, nearly falling asleep, the two stayed like this for a while.

Natsu and Lucy started to stir in bed, it was about 3 in the afternoon so their awakening wouldn't be a surprise at all.

"Shit... Mira let's run away!" Jomei opened her door so he and Mira could escape. They both made it outside and he locked the door before closing it back, Mira sprinted back to the guild while Jomei ran to get his solo mission completed.

* * *

"Mmmm I slept so wellllll." Natsu said while getting his "morning" stretch out.

"I knowwww, me too..." Lucy did the same, she rubbed her eyes a bit.

"Good morning." She said, happily enough.

"Morning Lucy!" She smiled at the voice of the dragon slayer before she noticed where she was.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED NATSU!?"

She had had the same reaction last time, but there were no signs of her ever having a calm reaction in the near future.

"I was sleeping with yo-" His sentence was cut off by a flurry of punches. Lucy pushed him off the bed afterwards.

"Oww. What was that for!?"

"Why are you here!? And don't hold me like that!" Natsu could tell she was about to hit him some more, but he couldn't take her seriously because of the slight blush on her cheeks. He fought to hold back a laugh.

"You were holding me too Lucy... I'm sorry if I did something wrong. I won't do it again."

"W-well... Let's not rule anything out here... Just, next time tell me so I wouldn't be surprised, or don't do it, but you don't have to not do it... Or do it, That's entirely up to you... I'm impartial to what you do." She was angry, but she didn't mind the cuddling, and she wasn't really mad at Natsu. Well yes she was, she was a little happy he was in her bed, he was a human heater for crying out loud! She was mad at how he made her worry about him for a whole month.

"Sorry Natsu... I'm just, grumpy when I wake up." She smiled to put him at ease.

_'Females are so confusing...'_ he thought to himself. " It's Ok Luc-"

**Grrrrurrrururrurgrrrr**

Natsu grabbed his stomach and Lucy enjoyed a laugh.

"You want some breakfast?"

**Grrrurrrr**

Lucy laughed again, "I'll take that as a yes." She turned to look at the clock

"3 PM WHAT THE HELL!"

"Dang Lucy... We slept a long time huh? That breakfast though..."

"Wait a second you don't get to talk to me casually, at least not until you tell me why you disappeared for an entire month..."

"Sorry, I was thinking about Lisanna and how things could've been different if I went on that mission with them, I've been regretting that a lot... Most of my time was spent in my house sulking, but I'm fine now, well, I'll learn to be fine..."

_'He really cared about her a lot...'_

"I understand, it was like that when my mom passed too." She paused for a while to collect herself, "Next time you feel down like that don't hesitate to come here, It's much easier to talk it out than it is to sit at home alone all day." She gave him a smile.

"Ok I will... Thanks for understanding."

"No problem... So what do you want to eat?"

"Have any steak? Or fire? Nononnonono, how about steak annddd fire!?"

Lucy shook her head," How about we just go to a restaurant… Or you know something else… If you want me to cook that's fine too, I mean anything's fine with me, anything at all."

"No let's eat here, I can help you cook!" he answered enthusiastically.

"Ok sooo what are we eating?" Lucy asked

"What do you know how to cook?"

"Hmm I make amazing tamagoyaki"

"Mmmm sounds good" Natsu took a while to look in her refrigerator "You have all the ingredients, how about some shabu shabu?"

"You sure we can finish all that?"

"Lucy… I can finish all that"

They shared a laugh and started cooking.

***One hour later***

"Ahh that was great." Natsu rubbed his stomach in satisfaction.

A comfortable silence lasted for a few minutes they could hear rain outside.

"Well I'm headed back to the guild... You know this is later than usual, we haven't been to the guild yet today, I don't wanna worry anyone." He got up to stretch, "This was fun Lucy" He flashed a toothy grin before unlocking the door.

"Waiittt I'll come with you, lemme take a shower first."

"Ughhhhh OK, I'll wait." Natsu locked the door back and settled on the couch.

"I won't take long I promise." She went in the bathroom to take her shower.

Natsu flipped through the channels to find something interesting.

"Hmmm, Ohhh Spongebob marathon!" He joyfully screamed.

After three hilarious back to back episodes of Spongebob, Lucy was done with her shower and Natsu was on the ground crying with laughter.

"Umm I left my clothes out here so can you leave while I change?" Lucy said while twisting her foot on the ground.

"Aww but I wanted to see-"

Lucy gasped, "You pervert!" She slapped him several times.

"Oww Lucy what the hell?! I just wanted to see the next episode of Spongebob damn..."

"O-oh.. I'm sorry"

"Yeh yeh, meet me outside when you're done..." he headed out of the apartment.

_'Stupid, I know Natsu doesn't think like that...' _She thought while she got dressed.

"I'm done!" Lucy said cheerfully.

"Good, let's go." Natsu said, leading the way to fairy tail.

* * *

"Heyyy Natsu-san, Lucy-san!"

"Hey Wendy!" they said in unison.

"Oi, heat retard let's fight!"

"I've waited a whole month for this, stripper!" The two were quickly back to their old ways, Gray did want to eventually ask Natsu why he was crying like a baby, and potentially tease him for it, but now he decided it'd be better to speak with his fists.

Just like that everything was back to normal, partially anyway. Lucy laughed at their antics before walking over to the bar to Mirajane, Cana, and Erza.

Mirajane had a wide smile on her face.

"Heyyy Lucy... What ya been up to today?" She placed her hands on her face, elbows on the table, already knowing the answer, she just wanted to hear the blonde say it.

"O-oh, nothing much you know... I um, Did some writing and stuff, Preeeetty boring day though..." She lied through a smile, She knew if she told Mira that she let Natsu sleep in her bed the teasing wouldn't cease.

"What do you mean when you say _stuff_?" Cana's question made Lucy nervous.

"W-well umm. You know like, I took a shower... Watched some t.v, did a little cooking.."

"Had sex with Natsu..." Cana chimed in again.

"No! We only slept together that's it!" Lucy's blush was heavy. She said that so loudly... Hopefully no one heard.

"Oi, Who did Lucy sleep with!?"

"I'm sure it was a MAN!"

"Well I don't know, it could've been a woman too, It clearly wasn't though since she it wasn't me, The queen of fairies."

You could hear the trickling from the nosebleeds throughout Fiore.

"Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?" Natsu gained everyone's attention.

"It was me, I came back from a job and my house was too boring, so I slept with Lucy, I've done it before..."

"Good job Natsu!"

"Natsu's a MAN!"

"So you two are finally official?"

"I knew it would end up like this! Gimme my jewel Droy!"

"So how was it Lucy!?" Cana hiccuped with her words.

"Wait wait! We didn't do _that_! It's not like that Cana..."

Mirajane was behind the bar and decided that the air should be cleared, it was ok when just Mirajane was teasing them, but the whole guild couldn't do that.

"Hey Guys! They didn't have sex! They just cuddled intimately!" Mira shouted while standing on the bar.

This successfully cleared the air, but didn't lower Lucy's embarrassment at all.

"Boo, Natsu you suck!"

"Give me back my jewel Jet!"

"Oi, Natsu, I thought you were a man..." Elfman shook his head, disappointed in the dragon slayer, Natsu didn't hear most of the comments, as he was fighting Gray again.

"Ugh... I wanna curl into a ball and turn invisible." Lucy whined while covering her face.

"Lucy there's no reason to feel embarrassed... I've cuddled with Natsu too." Cana spoke in between drinks.

"I have too, There's nothing to feel bad about." Erza played along.

_'Nani!? I'm gonna kick his ass, Why though? Whatever, still gonna do it.' _Lucy was a little bit jealous, she didn't know why, but she'd never let the others know that.

"Oh, Ok... I feel better now..."

* * *

"Gray, Let's make a bet!"

"Sure flame retard, When I beat you you have to go on a date with Lucy!"

"NANI!? OK... well you have to go on a date with the water chick!"

"Hm, you're gonna be taking blondie to a fine restaurant soon! Gonna buy her expensive bread and wine.."

"You'll be umm. On a date with water chick! And you have to do whatever she says!"

"SAME TO YOU SPARK SISSY!"

"BRING IT STRIPPER!"

* * *

***1 hour Later***

"Where the hell is Jomei!? He promised we'd go on a job today! I'm gonna kick his ass..." Gray was no longer fighting Natsu, now they were arm-wrestling, needless to say it was a pretty even match, neither gave up an inch. They had been competing in various challenges in the past 60 minutes: Cloak Sword Boulder, Who-Can-Survive-Erza the longest, Hide and go destroy a building, etc. This was the tie-breaker.

"Don't ask me Ice princess... I've haven't seen this Germy guy since he asked me where the Guild was." Natsu gained the upper-hand for a while, but it was quickly back to square one.

"You should come with us, Could be fun." He inched Natsu's arm down a bit.

"Long as we can walk there... I'll come, Show you two how a dragon slayer gets it done!" He slammed gray's arm on the table.

"You remember the bet Ice prick!" He stood up victoriously.

"Yeah, yeah whatever..." Gray walked over to Juvia.

"Gray-sama, Juvia saw you win the arm-wrestling, good job! I knew you could do it."

"Juvia... You wanna go on date later ? When I get back from this job with the guys?" He lost the bet, and he was a man of his word, besides... It can't be that bad right?

"Gr-Gray-sama wants to take J-Juvia on a date!?" She blinked rapidly, unsure whether this was a dream or not.

"Yes, whenever I get back..."

"JUUUVINNN! JUVIA IS SO HAPPY, OF COURSE GRAY-SAMA!" She hugged him just like she did the dolls back in her room.

"WHADDUP GUILDMATES!" Everyone had grown accustomed to Jomei kicking the doors open, They greeted him with equal enthusiasm, he made his way over to Gray.

"Gray you still wanna do that job? It's fine if you don't... You look pretty comfortable..." Jomei looked at the hugging duo.

"Yeh I'm coming, Natsu is too." He struggled out of the death-grip Juvia had on him.

"Alright, You can pick the job, I'll be at the bar."

"Cool."

Jomei walked over and sat with the girls.

"Wassup Mira? Can I get some chicken or something please? I just got back from that tiring job and I'm headed to another ... I haven't had good sleep in a while." He rubbed his eyes.

"Well why don't you just relax for a few days?" Cana sat down her drink, this surprised everyone.

"I wish I could Cana, But I promised Gray we'd go on a job today, That rhymed. But he said he wants to see me fight so..."

"It doesn't matter what he wants to see Jomei, You can go on a job later... You should be sleeping." Mira told him while sitting down a plate, "We're worried about you is all..."

"I appreciate it, but I'll be fine... I'll show you that you don't have to ever worry about me again, I'm gonna kick some ass!" He scarfed down the food.

"Yo Jomei, I found the perfect job, We get to kill 50 of these monsters! They feast on souls and we have to release the ones they've collected. Sounds fun right?"

Jomei laughed, "Sure, sounds awesome!" He stood up. "See you all later... Natsu! Come on let's get this over with!" They made their way out of the guild.

"Ughh, idiot is gonna get himself killed..." Cana shook her head before picking up her drink.

"Don't worry about him Cana, He is a fairy tail mage... Master let him join for a reason." Erza spoke while taking another forkful of cake.

"He'll be fine, Natsu and Gray are with him..." Lucy added in an attempt to cheer up the drinking mage.

"I hope you're right, I just have a really bad feeling about this..."

* * *

**Note: A little foreshadowing is always nice huh? Thanks for reading :D**


	3. The job

**Author's Note: Really sorry about the long wait, I was feeling down earlier so I took a little time from writing. But I talked to the Sun about his recent behavior at work, warning him that he should get all of his sleep at home, to avoid unemployment. I went on to talk about how the rain rarely checks its suggestion box, so office-related complaints are wasted time and paper, But now I'm complimentary, without worries. xD Get it? D-Did you get it?**

**Natsu: No... No one got the joke..**

**Me: ._. Anyone that has heard the song would get it I'm sure... Raindrops keep fallin' man**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. I do own this ****croque monsieur though, delicious.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Gray, Jomei, and Natsu decided to go on a job killing soul-eating monsters as a sort of male bonding experience, They'd been walking for a few hours and were now in the middle of a strong blizzard, all because of a certain dragon slayer's constant whining about a train ride.

"You guys wanna make this job a little more interesting?" Gray had an evil smirk.

"What's the bet stripper?"

"Well, whoever gets the least kills has to be the servant of the guild for a week! They have to do whatever the guild members say, whenever they say it, no matter how outrageous."

'_I am gonna make Natsu pay for earlier, I'll make him ride around Magnolia in a carriage all day, he'll be permanently sick when I'm done with him... I have to win.' _Gray wanted Natsu to lose desperately.

'_Oh fuck… Everyone's gonna tell me to go on a date with Lucy or something, or make me be friendly to ice prick… Then I'd be forced to eat ice, or act like that ppervert stripper... I'd rather die. I have to win.'_

'_A loss here would be terrible… Erza would force me to bake unlimited cakes with mega whatever the hell strawberries, Mira would dominate me or something. Cana would make me drink with her again… I don't wanna die, I have to win'_

"Alright, I'm in." Jomei confirmed reluctantly.

"What about the middle guy?" Natsu asked before accepting the terms.

"Hm… He'll have to be quiet for a week, No speaking at all. Barring extreme circumstances of course, Like if you have to speak to save a life or something."

Natsu thought for a while.

"Alright, I'll happily beat you guys." He said with a smirk.

A silence passed between the three.

"So how long is this walk gonna take Gray?"

"About a day if we don't make too many stops... The job itself shouldn't take too long."

"Ughhh, We have to walk through this blizzard!? This sucks." Natsu whined.

"You're the one that didn't want to ride a train..." Gray pointed out.

_'Hmm. He looks cold, so he's not an ice or fire mage...' _Gray thought to himself.

"Shut your whining trap Natsu! I'm the only one suffering, YOU BREATHE FIRE! YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY GET COLD!"

"DONT YELL AT ME GERMY! WE CAN FIGHT RIGHT NOW! LET'S GO!"

"LET'S NOT! IT'S COLD AS ZEREF'S SOUL OUT HERE! WE COULD BE IN SOME WARM AND TOASTY SEATS WATCHING THIS EVIL STORM FROM A PLACE OF SAFETY WHILE I GOT SOME FUCKING SLEEP! INSTEAD I'M ON A TREK WITH A BALL OF FIRE AND A POPSICLE, FREEZING MY GOD DAMN ASS OFF BECAUSE YOU GET A WIDDLE BIT SICKWY ON A TWAINN! BABY ASS!"

"I AM NOT A BABY!"

"SAY GOO GOO GAGA !"

"Goo goo gaga!"

"See, you are a baby." All three laughed and walked in silence for a few minutes.

Gray broke the silence, "Oi, Natsu… That month you were gone, What was wrong with you?"

Silence again.

"Nothing… Just had to take some time off away from you all, that's it." Natsu knew if he started to talk about the real reason he would feel that pain inside again, he hated that feeling.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean!?" Gray was quickly angered at his answer.

"I've never told you guys this but, You really piss me off sometimes, always talking about shit that I don't understand..." At first he was lying, but this comment was honest.

"Oh, stuff you don't understand? Like basic addition?! Grammar!?"

"No I mean how you refuse to shut the fuck up about feelings this and feelings that, I'm a fighter Gray, Everyone is always trying to get me to enjoy shit, to fall in love, I had feelings like that for someone before and I couldn't protect her... Love like that just complicates things, so I don't deal with it anymore... I'm just here to protect you guys, Nothing more and nothing less."

"Natsu... Is that seriously how you think?" Gray was shocked by his statement.

"No... That's how it is..." He walked ahead of the two, they didn't bother catching up as he didn't seem to want to talk.

For a while they walked in a near complete silence. There were no more words between them for a while. All they could hear was the consistent crunch of snow under their feet and the howling wind. This lasted for about 40 minutes.

"Did you say Natsu has been gone for a month? What's up with that?" Jomei attempted to break the silence, Natsu was too far ahead to hear them.

"This was right before you joined, Our team went to see a play and after that he started acting differently... He stayed in his house for an entire month while Happy brought him food."

"Well that doesn't sound like Natsu at all... He doesn't seem like he really wants to talk to us about it, Maybe Master can make him feel better..."

"Yeh maybe, But it's all up to Natsu really, Everybody at the guild cares about each other deeply." HE paused and watched the snow fall, it reminded him of something.

"He just has to open up to someone and you've seen how hard-headed he is..."

"I see what you're saying. Do you think he'll talk about it with anyone though? Like honestly... Emotions don't seem to be his cup of tea."

"Only person I've ever seen him open up to was Lisanna, But she died on a mission about two years ago..." He looked down. Jomei decided not to ask anything else.

Another silence passed, The wind picked up speed and the snow fall became more abundant, If they did decide to speak any time soon they most likely wouldn't hear each other, given the weather and the distance they set between themselves. All they had now were their thoughts.

'_Stupid Ice princess always in someone else's business, Stupid Everyone! Wish they'd just leave me be...'_

_'Lisanna huh... I wonder if I can get to Natsu, Behavior like this doesn't fit him at all.'_

_'I wonder what's really bothering Flame-Brain. Not like I'm concerned, Tch, Let him cry... I don't care.'_

The silence remained until it got dark outside. It was an eerie dark, nearly pitch-black with tiny white speckles as the snowing continued, it was like they were in a dream. There was a nearby source of light that caught their attention.

"Hey guys, there's a hotel right there! We should probably get some rest, it's getting pretty dark out here." Jomei nearly had to shout so they could hear him.

"We're not stopping." Natsu didn't slow down at all.

"Natsu, stopping is a good idea right now, besides we haven't eaten either, let's at least stop in for some food." Gray chimed in.

"I just told you, We're not stopping…" _'Not until my mind is off this.'_

"Fuck you then! I need some sleep!" Gray ran up to the dragon slayer, they were both prepared to fight.

"Whoa! Chill out…" Jomei attempted to separate the two.

"We'll keep walking, no food or sleep for a day isn't gonna kill us… I hope… This way it'll be more of a challenge, You don't back down from a challenge do you Gray?"

"No, I don't, But if Flame brain gets injured I hope he knows he can't come crying to me."

"Injured? Real funny joke ice prick. Don't expect me to lend a hand when you're getting your ass kicked…"

"How about I kick your ass right now!" Gray prepared to use his magic, Natsu did the same.

"STOP! Listen, I'm not going to let you two tire yourselves out before we even begin our mission, We've already decided to walk there without stopping for food or sleep… You two will be in terrible condition when we arrive if you fight right now. So let's just act like this conversation never happened... I refuse to carry back your dead bodies because you decided to bicker like some fucking kids…"

"Tell this stupid wad of bubble gum that!"

"Shut up Sasuke wannabe!"

"Fuck you! Weak ass fire user, Don't think for a second that we're actually friends! 'Hey Natsu! My soup is a little chilly, be a dear and heat it up for me?' " He impersonated an elderly woman.

"I don't give a damn! I despise you anyway! And did _you _just insult _my _magic!? DUDE YOU USE MAGIC THAT PEOPLE PUT CUBES OF IN DRINKS! 'Hey Gray we really need you! Our fruit punch is warm.' "

"You know what? Fuck this… I'm done with this mission."

"Same here, Sorry Jomei, I refuse to work with this pervert ice dispenser, He'd better shut the hell up before he gets demolished out here!"

_**Ice Make: Lance **_Gray shot several ice lances at Natsu, he quickly dodged.

_**Fire Dragon's Roar! **_Natsu shot a large amount of fire out of his mouth in Gray's direction, melting his lances, Gray sidestepped to avoid the blast. They ran up to each other and exchanged blows.

"I've always been stronger than you… I'll stop holding back from now on." Gray said while closing distance between the two.

"Oh really? I was about to say the same thing!" They exchanged more blows, uppercuts and hooks landing on each with equal strength, This battle would be one of endurance it seemed.

"Alright, well…" Jomei headed in the direction of their, well, his objective, Leaving the duo to fight it out. "When you two handle this meet me there."

They were too involved in the fight to hear him or notice his leaving.

* * *

"Alright, here I am in Bluebell... I think." Jomei yawned, "This place is pretty nice aside from the whole Ghost Town vibe I'm getting right now... Gray should bring Juvia here someday." He snatched a snow covered bluebell from the ground and put it in his pocket.

He was clearly tired from the constant travel, but he knew the job had just begun, he had no time to sleep, those people were separated from their bodies and if they stayed that way for long they wouldn't be able to return, he had to get this done to save their lives...

Besides if he did fall asleep one of those monsters could creep up on him. He knew they ate souls, that was the extent of the provided information. They could be gigantic with immense strength or small and quick with superior stealth, or even a combination of the two.

" I guess I'll walk around the town first, see if any are here, then I'll check the forest."

Jomei walked around town for a while, looking at the empty buildings that remained fully intact, going to his happy place for warmth, and making sure not to fall asleep.

_' I hope Natsu and Gray don't kill each other... I'll head back in that direction when I'm done to see, Just in case. I wonder how the guild is doing.'_

About half an hour of dead silence passed.

He heard menacing growls coming from behind him so he quickly turned around. There were three, the monster on the left was about 20 feet tall at least, It had one large bloodshot eye and a mouth that held a wide smile, it's arms were extremely long with claws that could cut through flesh like it was butter. The next was a hybrid of animals, It had the head of a lion, upper body of a human and a snake tail, the two arms were large and extremely muscular, It weilded a bloody Axe. The third was a short and round creature, its mouth took up the majority of the face, it had slim arms and legs. They all had similar, but unique red markings, and they were all pitch-black, looking at them was like staring into nothingness.

"Shit this is gonna take longer than I thought… Do you speak!?" Jomei wasn't looking to make peace, these monsters had terrorized innocent people, He figured he could at least find out where the others were.

The large Cyclops spoke in an unnervingly childish voice. "Leave this town at once human… This is your only warning."

The short one spoke. "You better listen boy… You seem strong... I've developed a taste for muscular humans." Its voice was much deeper, it sounded as if several people were talking at once. The monster smiled, when it did blood began to flow down it's chin.

The chimera remained silent.

"How many people have you killed!?" He wasn't going to back down.

The short monster spoke again, "Why does it matter human? What's done is done."

The largest of the three had no more interest in talking, It readied its claws, smiling before it jumped toward Jomei.

_**Gem God's topaz pistol! **_

Jomei's left arm turned into topaz and he pointed his hand as if it were a gun. He aimed and moved his thumb down rapidly, unleashing a blue and black beam that pierced the monster's left arm. He quickly pulled the trigger again, hitting the monster's eye directly. The monster then exploded, unleashing a lost soul in the process.

"That was... Pretty easy. I gotta keep my guard up, something isn't right here…"

* * *

"Something's wrong here Mira." Cana held an cup in her hand, "I don't think this is alcohol..." She quickly saddened.

"Calm down Cana. No alcohol here today, It wouldn't kill you to be sober for one day huh?"

"If it was any other day it wouldn't..."

"Aww Cana misses her baaaabyy, Thats sho shad..." Mirajane mad her lip quiver in a tease.

"No Mira! I'm just worried is all, I don't want _any_ of my guildmates in danger..."

"Oh I'm relieved... Now I can pursue."

"W-what? Fine, I don't care... He's a stupid kid that's gonna end up dying anway..." She frowned again.

"I was only kidding Cana damn... partially..." she muttered under her breath.

"Mira! Not helping!" Levy shouted. Mira apologized before levy ran to comfort Cana.

"I'm fine Levy; It feels like he would hold back Natsu and Gray...I'll never forgive him for it if he gets injured, going off for a mission without preparation...idiot."

Everyone sweat dropped, "That's uh... Not the best reasoning Cana." Levy pointed out before they all laughed.

"You're right... Maybe I'm overreacting, He is with two very strong mages... They can back him up."

Everyone paused, a weird feeling passed over them.

"Who is with two very strong mages?" Levy tilted her head.

"What?"

"Back who up?" Wendy said.

"Back up _whom, _Wendy." Levy stated.

"Wouldn't it 'Back whom up?' " Lucy asked.

"I think both of those are correct." Erza claimed.

"That doesn't sound right though... That's like saying 'Who he is?' " Levy spoke.

"Whatever... I think you just don't want me to be right since I'm a blonde. If I answered the question you asked, I'd say 'Back him up' and point at _him._.. Can't the question and answer have the same format?"

"So by your reasoning... If I ask you 'Who is that?' You'd say 'Natsu is that.' or 'He is that.' It doesn't make sense..." She shook her head. "And it's not that I don't want you to be right... It's just that you _can't _be right, with the hair and all." She teased.

" ***long overplayed gasp* **You take that back!"

"Take it back? Is that how things work in the blonde universe? You say something you don't like and you just swallow your words? Do you know how fast sound moves Lucy?"

"I don't..."

"Neither do I..."

The group shared a laugh.

"Time for scary movie night to start mina! Thank you all for coming, Snacks are over there on the table, Enjoy!" Mirajane started the movie and sat alongside Erza, Cana, Lucy,Wendy, and Levy on the floor.

"I'm already scared and it just started…" Lucy looked down and held a pillow, ready to cover her face if and when someone got murdered.

The first few minutes of the movie were calm enough, except for the murder that took place in the garage of the main character's summer home. The unknown killer stalked the man while he worked on his friend's car. The murder was a clean as one could be in a movie, He simply stabbed him with a syringe, filling his bloodstream with a random poison while shushing him in his last few minutes. The killer wrote something on the victims now bare chest, muttering to himself a bit about haystacks before leaving.

"Natsu can't save you now, proverbial damsel in distress… So when this serial killer shows up it's all... OVER!" Cana jumped to scare the celestial mage, it worked, although she almost dropped her drink. She was quickly back to her old teasing self.

"Only weaklings are afraid of movies Lucy... Bitch don't run in the garage... THE LAST MURDER HAPPENED THERE! _' Oh sureee, homicidal maniac running around with a football helmet on, Loves killing people in garages. Oh! I know! I'll hide in the garage!'_ BAKA! See watch as soon as you open the door, TOLD YOU BITCH! YOU DEAD NOW THOUGH!" Erza was always one to yell at scary movies, even though she knew they couldn't hear her, she just had to, the people made such stupid decisions.

"Erza chill, we can barely hear the movie." Levy was paying all of her attention to the movie, they were just like books in a sense right? She still preferred books, because they were silent... and Erza didn't yell at them.

"No Erza keep it up, I don't wanna hear this!" Lucy covered her ears.

"Its ok Lucy-san, I'm not scared, you shouldn't be..." The blue haired dragon slayer looked at Lucy compassionately.

"Natsu-san wouldn't be scared, Just pretend he's here." Lucy blushed at the thought.

"Ok... This better help." She closed her eyes.

* * *

_"Lucy... Lucyyy... Lusheeeeeee, Wake up sleepy head."_

_She felt those warm hands she'd grown accustomed to on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and saw him on top of her, she was too enthralled by his looks to be uncomfortable with their position. His eyes were gentle, staring directly into her soul, his facial features were soft and relaxed from a good night's rest. His smile was amazing, just the right amount of goofy and charming. She could've sworn there were sparkles were around him._

_"... Yoouuu gonna get up or just keep daydreaming about me?"_

_She blushed at his statement._

_"Come on baby, I made breakfast for you."_

_She was shocked._

**_'Baby?! Why is he acting like this, and why do I enjoy it? This isn't like Natsu at all...'_**

_"Lusheeee, Get uppp, It's gonna get cold…" He whined before pulling her from the bed before gesturing towards a chair._

_"I made tamagoyaki, I think it's even better than yours. I made some miso glazed salmon two, they would've been on separate plates but I didn't see anymore." He cracked another smile before she dug in._

_"It's shoo guudd." Lucy spoke while chewing, savoring the breakfast he made for her, she tried the tamagoyaki, loved it, tried the salmon, loved it, everything was perfect._

_"Lucy…" His voiced changed all of a sudden._

_"Hmm?" She redirected her attention to Natsu while her mouth was full, she knew it wasn't lady-like but she felt like she could be herself around the dragon slayer, he made her feel so comfortable. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, causing her to blush heavily and quickly swallow her food, expecting another, more personal kiss._

**_'Its not like I want this, no I definitely don't want this... So I'm gonna stop him, Yep, gonna stop him right now'_**

_He came face to face with her, their lips only centimeters apart, then he did the unexpected, he stole her plate._

_"If you want your food back... You'll say my name, make it cute though."_

_She turned away, embarrassed by what she would've done had he leaned in more._

_"C'mon Lucy, No one's gonna hear you, they didn't hear you last night…" He smirked._

_"W-wh-w-ha-, L-La-last Night?" Her entire face turned red, making Natsu momentarily jump back in fear, it reminded him of a fellow Fairy tail member._

_"Yes, L-Lalala Last nininight" he playfully mocked her. "Just say my name Lucy, and you can have the food back…"_

_"Why do I have to say your name!?" Lucy was really enjoying her breakfast, and the dragon slayer that made it for her, before he took it away._

_"Cause I get fired up when you do..."_

_She looked away again before compromising, she decided if she was gonna do this she should do it right, she pouted her lips to make a cute face, "Pweaase Naaatshuuuuu?"_

_He tilted his head and looked at her for a few seconds, as if pondering what he should do._

_"Hmm… Not good enough, I'm keeping it."_

_She was partially enjoying his childish antics at first, now she was getting annoyed, that's what she was telling herself anyway._

**_'He's always like this...'_**

_"OK, ok Lucy, I'm willing to... Discuss terms. You can have the food, but I get to feed it to you." He grabbed some of the grilled egg with chopsticks and held it up to her face before she could respond._

_"C'mon, open up... You know it's good."_

_She reluctantly complied, allowing Nats- no, the food, easy entrance. She started to enjoy the food again, this way was actually a little better. She was really able to savor every mouthwatering bite. After a few mouthfuls Natsu spoke again._

_"Heyyy, you're enjoying this..."_

_Lucy swallowed, "Yeah, I am." She had only realized that fact after saying it, she didn't want to admit it, but she loved every second of this, of him._

_"Well that won't work! This is supposed to be punishment for not making my name cute! No more food for you!" He stuck out his tongue._

* * *

"Natsuuuuu please? I want more, gimme more!" Lucy mumbled with closed eyes before opening her mouth.

"Uhh.. Lucy… She said pretend Natsu's here, not indulge in your... erm... fantasies…" Levy pointed out with a heavy blush.

"N-n-noo!, you got it all wrong! He was feeding me!" Lucy quickly got defensive.

"Ohh I know what you mean, yeah, _feeding_ you." Cana winked, The aforementioned mage being the only one that wasn't blushing and speechless after Lucy's outburst.

'_Damn, I'm never hearing the end of this…'_

Luckily fate was on Lucy's side as the main character was beaten to death on-screen, shocking everyone, earning gasps from a few, and laughs from Laki.

"Punch him harder!" She shouted while her hands danced in the air.

"Damnnnnnn! I was not expecting that at allll." Lucy shouted alongside her in an attempt to remove the attention from her previous actions, she succeeded.

* * *

"Damn… I wasn't expecting that." Gray spoke from the ground leaning over while spitting some blood onto the snow.

"You… thought I was kidding... About holding back?" Natsu spoke between deep breaths; the lengthy fight took a serious toll on both of them.

"Nah, Don't get confident, This is nowhere near over..." Gray stood up again.

"Fine by me, I'm starting to get fired up!" He prepared for round two.

"Alright, you're up, 1-0" Gray steadied his feet in preparation.

"You know I'm physically stronger than you, my magic is stronger, you can't beat me Gray…"

"Tch, Natsu, you know it's not good to lie."

_**Ice Make: Cannon **_he shot the cannon at Natsu, grazing his arm, painting the snow with some of his blood.

_**Fire Dragon's Claw **_His feet propelled him toward Gray before he unleashed a kick, knocking the ice mage backwards while bruising his ribs, Gray recovered, a bit staggered, but still on his feet.

"Yosh! Direct hit!" Natsu smirked.

* * *

"Yosh! Direct hit!." Jomei had just taken out his 22nd monster. He was granted a few minutes of silence and chose to use this time to work on strategy.

'_It seems to be four types, all, most with weaknesses and strengths: _

_The large one-eyed monsters with claws explode with any attack to the eye, they aren't that fast, but make up for it with those claws, I should keep my distance... The fat ones are farsighted and have no hand to hand skill at all, The chimera's take sloppy swings with their axes and usually injure their allies. And **that** one... I'll just have to stay on my toes around him..._

His thoughts were interrupted as 5 of the monsters surrounded him, Three cyclopes, a fat one, and a chimera. He noticed that the more he fought the more of those red markings each had, They were getting progressively stronger as well.

_**Topaz Mode**_

_'So I don't get destroyed' _he smirked.

His entire body was now shiny blue with black clouding, He was fully topaz except for the spiral on the back of his hand. He held out his right hand, gathering his magic.

_**Gem God's Explosion!**_

A blue and black ball appeared in his hand, steadily increasing in size, then it exploded, releasing a shock-wave of powerful magic, it killed three of the monsters at once, leaving a damaged Chimera and Cyclops.

'_I'm using a lot of magic right now… Time for a different approach...'_ he deactivated his topaz mode to conserve magic, it didn't use that much magic power, it's just in this state he wouldn't be able to last for long.

_**Gem God's Topaz Scythe**_

'_I don't have enough magic to sustain that mode for long, but deactivating it allows more magic for attacks, I have to be more careful now, especially with that claw and axe combo…'_

He held out his hand to summon a large scythe. He dashed towards the chimera, swinging his scythe a few times; he managed to hit the arm once before the chimera slithered away. It leaned its head back as if it were charging.

'_Shit…' _

_**Reaper God's Bellow! **_The chimera pointed its face in Jomei's direction

'_God slayer magic!? That's new...' _He jumped to the side, dodging most of the roar, but it caught his left arm.

He looked down to assess the injury but his arm was intact, It felt weird though, he could barely muster up any strength in it.

"What the fuck!?" The chimera laughed at his response and spoke for the first time.

"**Reaper God slayer magic… It attacks not the person, but their soul… It starts off slowly, weakening them, then the memories go, their wills break, and their soul becomes mine for consumption... A highly skilled Reaper God slayer could even take their soul and corrupt it, using the victim's body to do their bidding... The best part though, is that every single attack, any physical contact with this magic, brings the person fighting closer to their death, unless they defeat the god slayer that is... It's such a beautiful magic, don't you think?"**

'_This is so fucked up…'_

"That doesn't matter." He clenched his left fist to make sure his strength had returned, it had, partially.

He began his attack, dodging a few the chimera's one-handed axe swings skillfully, he spun with his scythe in hand, decapitating the creature.

"Big talk from a weakling, Your magic is dangerous… You? Not so much." Jomei smirked before directing his attention to the Cyclops.

"You gonna lecture me too One-eye?" (Sorry Leela)

"You're gonna die here human… One way or the other, _You _will die."

The Cyclops rushed, swinging its claws fiercely, Jomei used the scythe to block most of the attacks, but one swiped straight across his chest, lightly, but enough to draw a decent amount of blood, staggering hi,.

"Damn it all!" He grabbed his chest before blood dripped onto the snow. The Cyclops smiled again before charging. Jomei continued to block and dodge the attacks waiting for an opening, it seems with each cyclops he had to attack differently, they were adapting, he finally found a soft spot in the monster's defense, he swung his scythe into the giant's eye, causing an immediate explosion that knocked him back.

"27 down… 23 to go…" He huffed and puffed, He was usually an extremely quick healer, but his bloody, travel-worn, sleep-deprived body was fighting against him. He attempted to stand, he could, but his body was trembling.

"Fuck… I can't do this much longer…" he coughed up blood.

* * *

_"I can't do this much longer Janet… My brother's dead, all of our friends, dead… It's just me and you now." He spoke through sobs, his body trembling, "I can't… I can't live like this… I'm ending it."_

_"Wait Tommy! I have to tell you something…" Janet looked deep into his eyes._

_"I know who did the killings now..."_

_Tommy was flabbergasted._

_"But how? The only clue is that note about needles and shit!"_

_"So Tommy… How would you find a needle in a haystack?"_

_He thought about the note. "Go over every single piece of hay methodically; doing whatever's necessary to accomplish your goal?" He questioned why she quoted the card left for them._

_"Remember… What that homeless man said after we almost killed him and made fun of him?"_

_Tommy shook his head._

_Tears started falling down her face, "He said exactly that… This morning, when you were sleep… Someone was at our door, He told me…"_

_Tommy looked at her, anxious to hear what she said next._

_"He said the needle doesn't exist… And he told me he would burn the hay stack down…"_

_The ground shook, they quickly ran to their window to see a giant mushroom cloud, they knew it wouldn't be long before the shockwave ended their lives…_

_A Beethoven piece played in the background while they inaudibly screamed, then their house was shown broken down, both of their dead bodies lying on the floor, Then the city was shown, where all their memories, their successes and failures took place, It's almost a good thing that they didn't get to see the aftermath of the city, that definitely would've killed them inside..._

_Then the source of the explosion was shown, the dismembered homeless man spread out about, a frown plastered on his dead face…_

"That…was… so terrible…" Cana shook her head at the ending, most of the females in the room agreed.

"No! That ending was great!" Levy shouted.

"I think so too" Laki smirked at the script mage. "You like watching people squirm? We should get together later…"

"No! I didn't mean like that, I mean the symbolism."

"What symbolism Levy, Dude was insane, killed a shit-load of innocent people..." Erza tried to show Levy the error in her statement.

"No! The haystack symbolizes humanity, When he said 'Methodically search every piece of hay' He meant travel the world, interact with humans, see if anyone was actually kind-hearted and pure… Unfortunately for him, and all the people of that city, everyone he encountered was the absolute opposite… You remember his alley-way where he slept, He had a picture of himself in a business, and in that flashback it showed he was turned on by his brother, getting him fired, and then his wife left him because of financial troubles… He was always down, and when those people jumped him just for fun he snapped, He decided to stop searching, assumed all humans were inherently evil, including himself, So he 'burned the haystack', well that city's haystack… How a homeless man got access to a bomb that strong I will never know."

Her explanation earned some 'Ooohhs' and 'Ahhhs' from the crowd.

"Ah, I understand now Levy, good catch!" Lucy though the needle symbolized hope versus the haystack's adversity, so she was basically right too. Everyone decided to sleep over at Lucy's, her floor was completely concealed by sleepy female mages.

* * *

"Good catch Flame brain!" Gray laughed while pulling back his ice hammer.

"Yeah... Yeah I know Ice prick." He laughed back.

"Oi, Natsu, I have a question."

"Ask away Gray."

"Why are we fighting again?"

"Oh well duh, because… Um.." Natsu drew a blank.

They both laughed.

"Well either way, I'm drained… We finished 1-1, Call this a tie?" Gray held his hand out.

"Hmm, we have been fighting like a whole day, and there was no clear winner… Alright… Tie this time." They shook hands.

Natsu broke the handshake, pointing at the ice mage, "But next time, I'm kicking your ass!"

"I wouldn't bet on it.. C'mon let's get a room at this hotel."

"I'm hungry as hell though, I could eat a dragon right now…"

"Same here, Alright let's see if they have a café or something."

"More like a buffet..." Natsu looked down at his growling stomach.

Just like that everything was back to normal, the two that were prepared to destroy each other, spewed hurtful words at each other, claimed to hate each other, were back to being best friends/rivals again.

They walked into the hotel and up to the front desk to rent a room, It was a really nice high-end hotel, not what they were expecting, It was in the middle of nowhere after all…

"Welcome to Sweet Dreams Hotel and Buffet! I'm Kiku, Nice to meet you!" A short, pink-haired woman dressed in a white blouse and black skirt enthusiastically greeted them from behind the maple wood counter. She had very delicate features, her face seemed a bit malicious due to her black lipstick but her apparent happiness seemed to cancel it out, her eyes were calm enough, and the same color as her hair.

'_YES! SCORE!' _Natsu mentally celebrated the fact that there was a buffet.

"So, How much would it be for the buffet tonight and in the morning, and one room with two beds for tonight?" Gray spoke up, slightly attempting to match the woman's exuberance.

"Well normally, it'd be about... 156,000 jewel. But for you two…" She leaned over the counter seductively, letting her hair flow down. "Maybe… An exception could be made?"

Gray started to nosebleed, Natsu stared off indifferently.

"Maybe we could share a bed… And some love." She smiled, it seemed innocent but behind it was the mind of a nymphomaniac.

"I'm not sharing a bed with this ice prick!" Natsu pointed to Gray, whose nose was still bleeding.

"Oh… How about me and you then?" She looked at Gray, bringing him back down to earth.

"Is there any other way to get a discount, we are extremely tired and hungry…"

"Kiss me! I'll take off 1 thousand jewel for every peck, 10,000 for a passionate make-out session."

Gray and Natsu paled at her thorough set-up.

"And if we do _that_" She looked them both up and down. "You can stay here anytime for free."

"LISTEN UP YOU CRAZY LONELY PERV! WE WILL NOT DO ANY OF THAT, FOR ANY REASON!" Gray yelled, he just wanted to eat and sleep.

Her lip quivered while she held back tears. "Alright MEANIE! THEN IT'S FULL PRICED! The buffets over there!" She shouted, letting a few tears fall before throwing the room keys at them. She sat down and looked away, crossing her arms. Natsu looked at Gray before shaking his head.

"You suck at talking to girls you know…" Even the dense dragon slayer knew that wasn't the right thing to say.

"Shut up flame brain! You're one to talk! I'll be at the buffet!" He snatched his room key from the ground and stomped away on the plush carpet. Natsu could still hear her crying. He jumped onto the counter and leaned over, kissing her on the cheek. She gasped and turned around with a blush on her face.

"Sorry about that… We're both just really drained is all, really long day." He smiled.

She was still speechless, surprised he was being nice to her after she tried to take advantage of the traveling duo.

"If it makes you feel any better I beat his ass earlier today too." She laughed a little before smiling back.

"I expect a discount for that kiss." He joked.

He jumped back off the counter and picked up his room key. He then made his way to the buffet, grabbing two plates and filling them with various foods before sitting with the ice mage. Their meal was silent, they were far too exhausted to hold a conversation, the two feasted for a while in comfortable silence before making their way up to their room.

"Hey Gray… Why does it feel like I'm forgetting something?" Natsu asked while getting into his bed.

"I don't know, probably the exhaustion…" Gray shrugged it off. "I feel the same way , Let's just get some sleep."

"When we get back to the guild tomorrow… Let's avoid Cana."

"I don't know why, but that sounds like a good idea." They both fell asleep.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Wanted to say thanks to all the followers and favorites**

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**You all are awesome people, Until next time *waves***


	4. Erebus' Edict

I** tried to find a balance this chapter between fluffy and "s*** is gonna hit the fan". Let me know if I passed with flying colors or failed miserably. Enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. I do own this smoothie though, and its amazing.**

* * *

_'I'm gonna die here huh? Not how I planned so at all... 49 monsters... Forty-Nine...'_ The God Slayer had taken out all the monsters but one, and it was_ that_ one... He was surprised he actually got this far in his condition. He was extremely tired, hadn't gotten decent sleep in about 4 days due to his house always felt so empty, it was unnerving to him, to have such a place with one lone inhabitant. Then there was the exhaustion, the injuries he had sustained, a few cyclopes had gotten to him, he had a slash on his chest and left leg, the one on his leg being the deeper cut. He was shivering now, lying face first in the snow. He wasn't sure if the cold he felt was just the weather finally permeating into his happy place or early signs of exsanguination, either way it didn't bode well for him. Deep down he still knew that somehow, some way he had to kill that monster, even if it resulted in his death, those people couldn't defend themselves at all and this was the only way to make things right. As if on cue, _he_ appeared before the fallen God Slayer, a mischievous smile worn on his face.

**"Boy... You think you're strong huh? Little God Slayer taking on the monsters..."**

Jomei looked up to see the last monster, his body had no red markings like the others, he was far larger, his large empty eyes radiated hatred and malice. He sat down by Jomei, and enjoyed a laugh at his expense.

**"You know... I could squash you like a bug If I wanted..."** He held his finger over Jomei's head, applying a large amount of pressure.

_'I was just smiling and laughing again... Its been so long... And it ends here, Like this?... No... No, It can't, I won't accept that.'_

He slowly pushed himself up off of the ground, he looked down on the snow, seeing the blood that had been loosed from his body, his vision slightly blurry due to this fact, but he wouldn't let it stop him, he couldn't die here and he'd use every bit of energy left to prevent that. He slowly got to his feet, holding up the monsters hand.

**"Hm... How annoying..."** He moved his hand off of Jomei's head, a silence followed. **"You ****wanna know why I'm so impartial to humans?" **

_'Does it matter if I don't?'_

"Sure... Monologue away..." He dropped back onto the ground.

**"Haaaha...Funny. First off, I'm not a monster, I haven't eaten any of these townspeoples souls, So if I do decide to kill you, find solace in the fact that you saved them."**

"Oh, That's good... At least they're ok." _'Fuck You.'_

**"Now, What was I saying? Oh yeah. Do not group me with those weaklings you killed... I am known as Erebus... God of darkness."**

"God!?" Jomei's eyes widened in shock.

**"YES! Now shut up! You do know what a monologue is right? Damn ignorant humans.. Anyway before I was so rudely interrupted, Yes, I'm a God, the last one left I believe."** He paused for a second, letting the god slayer take in the serenity of his potential final resting place.

**"Have you ever seen an ant on the floor in your house boy? Don't answer that, I'm sure you have. Ants are to you what you are to me, sometimes they're fun to watch, sometimes they're pesky little pieces of shit…" **He laughed. "** Sometimes you just let them be, Sometimes you stomp their insignificant little lives away... I wanna see what kind of ant you are... Are you a pesky little piece of shit? Are you an entertainer? I guess that's the end of my monologue, since I want an answer."**

"Don't compare me to an ant... I'm the type of _person _that'll kick your ass."

**"Hard to sound intimidating when you're so close to death huh?"** Erebus mocked. **"You're a lot like someone I know... So I won't let you die here, but don't get too comfortable with life, I want to kill you at your strongest... I want you to die knowing your power isn't what you think it is, matter of fact… I'll give you Reaper God slaying magic... Still pretty weak, but you'll have a little bit of a chance to get me going." **He chuckled a little.

"You say that l-like you're holding out... What are y-you hiding?" Jomei was still on the ground, panting heavily while he struggled to remain conscious.

**"Me? Hiding ? Nothing at all, I can't give you _my_ magic, you'd have a real chance then... I wanna have fun not possibly die. But anyway... You humans had better be ready... I'm getting tired of you all claiming names you haven't really earned... Demon-slayers, Dragon-slayers, God-slayers... We're gonna put you all to the test... Demons will arise, Dragons will return, and well... I'm right here."** He jammed his finger into Jomei's left arm, leaving a red mark similar to the ones on the monsters he encountered and causing him extreme pain. **"I recently erased all of Fairy Tail's memory of you for a few days so don't expect a rescue party… You know... I might make them call you 'Jomei the Human-slayer'. After all those people you killed today... They were all just like you ya'know. I think one was a child? Hmm... Not sure, but they were all too weak to handle this power..."** He leaned down and whispered. **"Will you be the exception? I'm rooting for you... Let all those bitches know their time is coming."** He walked away, leaving him writhe on the cold ground.

_'I'm a murderer… Maybe my death would be-__' _he passed out.

* * *

"Shit… He is barely holding onto life. We have to save him!" A purple haired woman was using healing magic on the human-slayer.

"Haru… You're going to hurt yourself, do you really need to use that much magic on him? We don't even know who he is!" A slightly younger boy with dark blue hair spoke to her.

"Shutup, Shutup! Fuyu! He saved our lives, he really needs blood, and you two match… So sit down and shut the fuck up!" anger flashed in her light blue eyes.

"Bet you wouldn't be saying that shit if _your_ blood matched his…" Fuyu muttered to himself.

"FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY!?"

"I SAID YES MA'AM!" He quickly followed his older sister's orders, holding out his arm while she withdrew some blood.

"We're gonna need more than that, ask the other villagers what blood type they are, if they match tell them to get here as soon as possible!" She got back to healing his wounds, stopping the bleeding being her priority.

Her brother returned later with five villagers, she quickly explained the situation to them and they obliged, giving her enough blood to replace what Jomei had lost. She gave him some pain medication, and induced a temporary comatose state. This would give him the rest he needed, allow her to get him some nutrients, and reduce his pain. She decided he'd stay this way for a few days before he was fully recovered. Having done all she could, she sat in a chair and sighed heavily, tired from her work but happy she could save him.

"Onee-chan… You should rest, you've helped him more than enough." He tossed her an apple.

"He didn't rest! He nearly died saving us, We… I owe him my life. I'm not leaving until he is better." She bit into the succulent fruit.

"Well… If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving. And believe me I do appreciate his saving us, I'm just worried about you is all." He sat in the chair next to her.

"Ok, Thanks for caring, and I'll be fine Fuyu..." She smiled and they fell asleep.

* * *

Lucy woke up to nearly every female in the guild lying on her floor sleeping, this brought a smile to her face, she never admitted it but whenever someone slept over it made her feel warm inside, Like she was loved. She wondered what Natsu was doing, Gray had told her that he was going to find out why Natsu was sulking for so long, because she thought that there was more going on. She knew he had a strong bond with Lisanna but still felt as if something else was bothering him. She looked at the clock, seeing it was far too early to be awake with her thoughts she quickly went back to sleep.

* * *

"Ahhhhhh, I slept so well..." Natsu stretched, completely reenergized after the long rest.

"Me too." Gray stayed in bed, thankful for the sleep he just enjoyed.

"OK so, why were we out here again? I'm sure we're pretty far from the guild."

Natsu scratched his head.

"I don't have a clue... Let's just pay for this room and head back, they'll be waiting."

"Yosh! But breakfast first right?" He rubbed his stomach.

"Of course, I hope their breakfast is as delicious as their dinner..." The ice mage licked his lips in reminiscence.

"It is, Most people prefer our breakfast actually." The receptionist made herself comfortable on the couch.

"Why are you here!?" Gray nearly jumped backwards, hoping she hadn't done anything to him in his sleep, Natsu seemed impartial.

"I'm sorry... I just came in to apologize for last night." She avoided eye contact. "I shouldn't have done that... Its wrong to take advantage of people, Even after sunset..."

Gray was still a bit peeved, Natsu quickly spoke up. "It's fine, really. But um... Could you tell us where a nearby hospital is? I don't think we noticed last night, but I'm pretty sure we have some serious injuries." Natsu looked down on his body, a few cuts were shown, and he was severely bruised. Gray began to assess his injuries as well, shouting in pain as he ran his hand over his ribs.

"FUCKK THAT HURTS!" He clenched his teeth.

"You might have a broken rib, I know there's a doctor in bluebe- oh... Never mind."

Kiku's demeanor quickly changed.

"What? Where's this doctor!?" Natsu closed in on the pink-haired woman.

"There was an excellent doctor in bluebell, Haru Rider... But we haven't heard from her in a while..."

"Bluebell? That sounds... Familiar." Natsu touched his chin with his index, searching his mind for any possible answer, he was brought back to earth after another comment.

"What about this town we're in now?" Gray stood up from the bed carefully to avoid the drilling pain he had just experienced.

"This is just a merchant town, a mere tourist stop... There is a man that stays here that can help you, he used to be a very successful doctor, but he may not have equipment to deal with injuries this serious... I should've noticed this last night." She looked at the ground.

"Yeh but you were too busy fantasizing..." Gray muttered.

Natsu glared at him, mouthing the words "Dude chill."

"Can you take us to him Kiku?" He leaned down, holding his throbbing arm.

"Yes of course, Meet me in the lobby when you're read-"

"Were ready now! Come on!" Natsu quickly but carefully put on his shirt, pointing to the door. The woman quickly got the message and led the two downstairs. Gray nearly collapsed in the lobby, Natsu and Kiku held him up, the receptionist ran away before returning with a wheelchair for the ice mage.

"Here, use this." She let Gray take a seat.

"Thanks... Why do you have a wheelchair?" He was both grateful and curious.

"Oh um... Well my umm… f-friend with... Benefits. He was... very skilled. I haven't seen him in a while, So I keep this bit of nostalgia." She looked away blushing.

"Friend with benefits?" Natsu would've scratched his head if his arm wasn't in such pain. Gray completely knew what she was hinting at, he looked away with a heavy blush.

A few uncomfortable seconds later...

Natsu snapped and flashed his toothy grin, "Ohh OK, like me and Lucy, right Gray?"

The ice mage's face became more heated as he struggled, his body convulsing lightly in an attempt to release a laugh that he stifled.

"Gray... Lucy and I are friends with benefits right? I mean we are friends... And I get to eat over her place and sleep in her bed, those are benefits... So... yep. Friends with benefits." He smiled again before following the flustered receptionist.

"N-natsu." Gray successfully held back his laugh, only barely though, you could hear his voice breaking. "Make sure to tell Lucy that when we get home... Those exact words okay? It'll make her smile." _'__Paybacks a bitch, Natsu'_

* * *

They arrive at the humble home of the local doctor, Kenko Inoue. The home is two stories tall with a very clean exterior. There were a few gardens in the back, possibly growing ingredients for his famous herbal teas.

Kiku knocked on the door a few times before turning back to the two, "I must warn you.. He is a great doctor but he is also a bit… hedonistic."

A tall man with relaxed brown hair and black glasses opened the door, his attire was laid-back, he donned black skinny jeans, a t-shirt saying "Keep Calm... Im a Doctor", and some casual gray shoes. He offered a large and perfect smile to the trio, particularly Kiku.

"My my my... Kiku Wakahisa... To what do I owe the pleasure?" He kissed her hand sensually.

"I need you to take care of these two men." Her curt words cut him off, he stepped back before looking at the two.

"I'll take care of them alright.." He licked his lips.

"No Kenko! They're injured, I need you to heal them."

His voice quickly changed, instead of lust it was now riddled with concern and urgency, "Oh! Of course, Bring them in! I'll check out the one in the wheelchair first."

He quickly opened one of his doors, rolling in Gray. Kiku and Natsu sat on the couch in the living room.

"Alright..." Doctor Inoue looked over Gray after a physical examination. "Seems you have two fractured ribs." He saw shock on Gray's face, he quickly reassured him.

"Nothing too serious.. You'll have to take pain pills for a while, It'll heal on its own." He bandaged up his now bare upperbody before letting Gray slip his shirt back on **(OOC, sorry.)**

"The medical history you provided was impeccable, so I doubt there are any genetic complications related to this..." He looked through a cabinet, finding a bottle of pills. "Here's a magic prescription, this pill bottle here will assess your injuries after a month, sending them to me, if you still need pain pills another bottle will fly to you while the other comes back to me." Gray nodded at the information, popped a pill, and rolled himself out of the room. Natsu headed in after him.

"What'd he say?" Kiku spoke to Gray as soon as he entered the living room.

"Two fractured ribs.. I'll be fine though."

"What made you two fight so seriously!? Aren't you friends?"

"Yeh we are... We always fight though, that's just how we are I guess.." He shrugged.

"You remind me a lot of my friend…" She looked saddened.

"Listen, I already told you I'm not doing _that _with you…"

"NO! That's not what I meant by it! Sorry again by the way… But I mean you two have a lot of similarities. He's a strong mage too, and he seems really nonchalant sometimes but he really does care deeply for all his friends… And just like him, your behavior makes me want to DESTROY you at times." she clenched her fist for a moment. "Then I remember that you put up walls… because you don't want to be hurt again…" She frowned.

"I'm sure you two will cross paths again if it was meant to be… Fate might be on your side." He smiled at her, cheering her up, although her words partially got to him.

"Alright, You two will be fine! Just some bruising, little fracturing, exhaustion, nothing major. Your bodies will heal alone." The doctor smiled while walking behind a partially bandaged Natsu. The two reveled in their good health.

"Oh and until you're healed... There will be no fighting whatsoever." He cut off their celebration.

Silence

"NO FIGHTING!? " The two yelled simultaneously.

"That's... That's all we do!" Gray hung his head, surrounded by a dark aura while he thought about being useless to the guild.

"This is bullshit!" Natsu took one if his pills.

"Well... Gray Fullbuster, Natsu Dragneel, Maybe you two should think about that next time you decide to beat the shit out of each other!" Kenko shouted through a smile, his face hiding his anger. "Now I will travel with you, speak to whoever is in charge of you two to let them know about your healing, Lead the way." He grabbed a bag out of the kitchen and followed the two mages.

* * *

Despite Natsu's protests they boarded a train to Magnolia. Natsu sat across from Gray and Kenko, an empty seat was next to him.

"Whoaaaaa, This train is sooo preettyyyyy." Natsu's head moved from side to side, the side-effects of the pill finally took hold of the two mages, he was far too high to suffer from motion-sickness.

"Yessss I know my fiery friend.. The transparent here tathe amaaathengg." Gray spoke while licking the glass on the window.

"Ahhhh my snowy sidekick..._ Life_ tastes amazing... Imma take Lucy to a diner when we get baacckkk, Order some pork riiibbsss mmmm." He rubbed his stomach.

Gray leaned across to put his hands on Natsu's shoulders, looking deep into his eyes.

"Bro.. You should do that, for realsies dude. I'll bring Juvia, What we gonna have for dessert?" He tilted his head.

"I dunnooo, I'll get some Lucy cake with Lucy icing, some Lucy-berries on top, and a Lucy shake." He licked his lips.

"Lucy is a food!?" Gray was shocked by Natsu's words. His hands began to tremble, tears falling out if his eyes. "What is life!?"

"Noooo silly willy... Lucy isn't foooddd. I'm just sure she would taste good, She smells good... Soo... she probably tastes nice too." He was now drooling, purring at the thought of devouring the celestial mage. He smirked, "Hey Wavy Gray-Vee, Let's make a band, and some songs."

"Yooo... Let's do that! We need a cool name first... Hmm, How about _Sexy Tail_?"

Kenko laughed outrageously. "_Sexy Tail?_ What does that even come from?"

"Our guild Mr. Doctor man.. Fairy tail!" Natsu answered with a child-like innocence, nodding his head like a toddler would.

"Not really creative huh?" Kenko questioned the duo.

"Ahh he's right best-buddy-in-the-world-Gray. ***snaps*** I GOT IT! You listening? Listening!? You hear me? Sit down, cause you're gonna stand up when I tell you!"

"We're already sitting Natsu-san." Kenko scratched his cheek.

"GOOD! I got the perfect name... _Fairy_, wait for it! _sexy_..."

Kenko sweatdropped.

"Natsu... Mind... Blown!" Gray mocked an explosion on his head with his hands. "And I get it! _Fairy sexy_, Like a play on words, Fairy instead of berry!'"

"Did you mean very?" The doctor mumbled to himself.

"Ah man I was thinking that, totes, and you said it... Man we are here! TOGETHER!" Natsu jumped in his seat. "Okay, first song... NAME IT, GO!"

"Umm, Umm, _Born to Die! _No.. No, OH I know! _Pepper, Mage, Blueberries and Rhymes. _Nope, here it is... _Thoughts for tomorrow... _"

"DEFINITELY THE THIRD! Alright! Let's do lyrics... Let's start it off quickly,

_I love loving, dying, crying, and Flying planes..._

_But hate drives me insane... Don't know who I could blame. _" Natsu pointed to Gray.

" _I hate hating, living, laughing, and Speeding trains._

_And if love was my name, I'd be the one to blame... " _

Natsu slowed down a bit, lingering on every syllable.

"_And if the sky comes fallin' down, _

_I know that she will be around…" _

Gray matched his speed.

"_But when the sun is shining bright.. _

_She's always absent from my sight."_

Natsu nodded his head, matching the rhythm.

_"And she always does things like this... _

_Like cold-hard slaps, or candy kisses... "_

_"I always smile, not clentch my fists_

_Cause she alone can grant my wishes..." _

_"So I live my life with painful joy... _

_And sometimes even joyful sorrow..."_

_"And I just hope that in my dreams, _

_I'll escape these thoughts... Until tomorrow."_

Gray started dancing slowly in his seat, hugging himself.

"What'd you think Mr. Doctor sir?"

Kenko wiped his eyes, he opened his mouth to speak, but never got a chance to.

"That was so beautiful!" Kiku jumped into the empty seat next to Natsu.

"Kiku! Why are you here?" The Doctor tilted his head in confusion.

"These two haven't paid me for the room yet…" She pointed to the injured mages.

"Ohhh, Sorryyy about that hair twin." Natsu patted her head. "We'll pay you, but come see our guild, you'll love Magnolia."

"O-oh… I mean if that's fine with Gray…"

"Of course it is, Natsu's hair twin… You should definitely relax in Magnolia… It's an awesome place…"

"I-I'm not s-s-sure… I don't wanna have to r-rent an apart-" She was cut off when Natsu wrapped his arm around her, holding a small flame close to her face.

"Y-Y-You susususound cold!" He playfully mocked her, "Fire is hot, hot plus cold equals warm, Now you're warm. Magical math hair twin!"

"She's not cold Natsu-san… She's just really weird, her personality changes completely in regards to the time of day. Daytime Kiku is sweet, innocent and afraid of change… But Nighttime Kiku is, well… kinda like me when I'm not talking to patients or children." He scratched his cheek softly.

"C-Could you let go Natsu-san?" She struggled under his hold until he finally released her.

"I can't wait to get back to the Guild! Gonna go on a job!" Natsu jumped up and down in his seat.

"BAKA! NO YOU ARE NOT!" Kenko reminded him of his injuries.

"Ah man… That sucks Doctor General Guy…" Natsu sunk into his seat, pouting.

"Look at the silver lining Natsu." Gray finally stopped dancing.

"The lining of the train? What does that hafta' do with anything!?"

"Nooo bro… It's a saying."

"And Imma listening, and I don't understand…"

"He means look on the bright side Natsu-san." The Doctor attempted to clear the air.

"WHAT BRIGHT SIDE! THE SUN IS OUT! EVERYTHING IS BRIGHT!" Natsu shook his arms vigorously.

"What I mean, Buddy Natsu… Is you get to spend more time with Lucy now…"

"Ahh Lushheeeee... I wish she was here." His expression saddened.

"Whooaa Matchstick... You llllliiikkke herrrrrr." Gray teased while rolling his tongue.

Kenko smiled, and continued to jot down some side-effects of his new pill. _'State of Euphoria, Lack of verbal filter, Uncommon Friendliness… Musical talent?'_

"Whaaaa? I care about all you guys, Realllyyyy. Lucy is just, she's... She's Lucy..." He leaned his head back, quickly falling asleep.

"I can understand that buddy... Night night." Gray let sleep overtake him as well.

* * *

_Natsu was standing in the rain, he was surrounded by empty streets and derelict buildings, he heard nothing but the collective raindrops colliding with the ground, until she showed up._

"_Natssuuuu~ Have you forgotten about me?" The white haired girl had tears in her eyes._

_He stood still, too shocked to take action, it wasn't long before his tears started to fall._

"_Lisanna!" He ran toward her, nearly tackling her with a hug._

"_No, Lisanna... Not a day goes by that I don't miss you..." He held her tightly._

"_I finally have you again... I'm never letting go this time…" He cried into her shoulder._

"_Im so sorry... Making you feel this way... Bringing you sorrow… Resurfacing all these conflicting emo-" she was cut off by Natsu's lips, she replied with equal enthusiasm, her hands wrapped around his neck, lifting herself up a bit to deepen the kiss._

"_None of this is your fault Lisanna. You didn't choose this... You didn't ask for any of this…"_

"_Natsu... Do you even love me? Have you ever… I mean its been such a long time." She stepped back, averting her gaze so he couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes._

"_What!? Of course I do! I always will... I-... I should've told you…" He smiled at her, pulling her into another hug. "I was so stupid before…"_

"_It's okay Natsu… I'll always love you too, No matter what." She held his hand, leading them to shelter. They sat on a covered bench. "We'll be fine here... Until this rain passes over hopefully." Lisanna smiled, looking out to the steadily falling drops. "Natsu you're a really great guy you know." She starting crying as her body faded away. "Comforting me like this... When you've alre-"_

* * *

**Meanwhile… In Gray's mind**

"_Gray-sama... I understand, you don't have to worry about Juvia anymore. Juvia will leave you alone." Her tears flowed more than any normal human's would've._

"_Juvia stop! It's not like that!" Gray held onto the fleeing water mages wrist._

"_Then what is it like Gray!? Juvia loves you with all her heart and all you do is rip it out and stomp it in Juvia's face! Juvia cannot keep doing this to herself… No matter how much she loves you. You brought purpose back into her life, happiness... Joy that she hasn't ever experienced... You're Juvia's reason for living, to have someone she cares about so much reject her at every possible turn, Act like she DOESN'T EVEN EXIST! It's killing Juvia..." She turned now, staring into his eyes. He didn't like what he saw; Pain, sorrow, regret, the rain woman's face showed her depression fully, her eyes listless due to lack of sleep and constant crying, her lips down turned into a quivering frown that didn't at all fit her usually happy aura, she was truly devastated. _

"_Juvia... I'm sorry but... I can't love you, I just... I can't…" He was hiding tears of his own now._

"_Can't?!... You can't!? Juvia CANT LIVE WITHOUT YOU! But you can't love her? Seriously? Juvia kept telling herself to stay positive, maybe tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that, and that day NEVER CAME! Juvia does not want to be your friend, Juvia wants to be yours... And if Juvia can't be yours she doesn't want to be anybody's, she doesn't want to be here..." She cried even more, running away from her previous love._

_His tears now flowed freely, "but... I..." He muttered to himself between sobs, wiping his drenched eyes, she was too far gone to hear him."I have no right...I never meant to hur-"_

* * *

"NATSU-SAN, ***slap*** GRAY-SAN, ***slap* **WAKE UP! ***slap slap***" The doctor alternated slaps between the two.

"AH! Oh shit… Just a dream." The duo awoke with the same words, However, While Natsu's voice was full of disappointment, Gray's was one of someone that just dodged a bullet.

"You two okay? You were both sweating heavily, muttering to yourselves too… I guess the pills I gave you alter your dreams as well." Kenko quickly jotted down more notes.

"Get up you two… We're in Magnolia now." Kiku tapped them both lightly.

"Oh… Alright, Come on Flame Brain." Gray stood up, staring off absent mindedly, still a little shaken from his dream.

"Y-yeh… Just a dream…" Natsu stood up as well, his face holding a cold emotionless glare.

They walked carefully out of the train station, leading their two guests to the guild.

"You guys were right… This is a very nice place." Kiku was the first to break the silence, Kenko quickly walked next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He shook his head, silently telling her that they should just walk in silence until Gray or Natsu decided to speak up… That never happened.

They appeared outside of the guild and were ushered in by Gray, who happened to be walking the fastest for some reason.

"Hey! They're back!" Jet ran up to Natsu and Gray. "How was the job!? Get any souvenirs?"

Natsu continued to look at the ground, Gray spoke up, "No… We didn't go on a job." he looked slightly confused.

"Um… Yes you did. Remember you wanted to see how... Something.. Didn't you? Oh we have visitors! Hi, I'm Jet the super-ultra-mega-God-Of-Speed." He smiled and gave the two a thumbs up.

"Nice to meet you Jet the super-ultra-mega-God-Of-Speed, I'm Kenko Inoue." The two shook hands.

"I-I'm Ki-Kiku Wakahisa…" She simply waved.

"Well nice to meet you... But Gray, Natsu, If you didn't go on a job, Why are you bandaged up?"

"We were fighting for some reason." Natsu spoke up for the first time. "Pretty seriously too... I'm gonna go home though, clear my head." Jet quickly grabbed his arm.

"You two are lucky the females are MIA right now, you'd be dead if it wasn't such a sausage fest here..."

"Jet you've probably bumped your head or something, I'm going to find Juvia, I owe her a date." He turned to walk out of the guild.

"I guess... I'll go speak to Lucy before I go home."

The two left their visitors in Jet's care. Natsu slowly made his way to Lucy's house while Gray ran, as fast as he could with injuries, around town searching for Juvia.

"Ahhh... Good morning everyone!" Lucy got up and stretched. Mostly everyone was sleep except for Cana, Levy, and Erza.

"Morning damsel in dis***burp***" Cana greeted her first.

"Good Morning Lu-chan!"

"Salutations! Let's do some morning training Lucy."

Lucy waved off Erza's suggestion with a smile, she wouldn't want to go through hell this early.

"Anyone up for pancakes?" Lucy got out of bed, not bothering to change out of her pajamas, today would be a lazy day for her.

***knock knock knock***

"INTRUDERS!" Erza requipped a sword, ready to serve a freshly baked whoop-ass cake.

Levy and the others attempted to calm her down while Lucy answered the door.

"Who is it?" She opened the door.

"Natsu? Whats with the banda-" she didn't get to finish her sentence before the dragon slayer pulled her into a firm embrace.

"L-Lucy..." He was shaking, his hands on the small of her back, shivering as if he was really cold, he cried into her shoulder.

"Natsu... what's wrong? Why are you bandaged up like this!?" She held onto him as well, saddened by his state.

"Lucy... I-..." _'I'm never letting go...'_

* * *

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	5. The accident

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail...**

**This Caesar salad though.**

**Basically a fluff chapter, sorry ('-')**

* * *

"Oh... Its just Natsu back from hisss... I wanna say... job?" Erza let her guard down, slightly.

"Natsu... You're still holding me..." The blonde pointed out, still a little flustered by the unexpected contact.

"I know..." He tightened his grip. Normally Lucy would love to hold him like this, he made her feel safe, But given her current visitors...

"Oooohhh Lu-chan... Want us to leave while you two make lemonade?"

"Go get em damsel! Remember, breathe through your nose!" Cana winked.

"Natsu.. You'd better not pull a Jellal." Erza stated, her head hanging.

Despite the teasing she would never hear the end of, she focused on her hug-buddy for the moment.

"Natsu, tell me what's wrong."

"Not now... Please... Let's just stay like this."

_'YAASSS!'_

"UM. Ok I guess... But you're talking to me after this, alone." Her last word was directed towards the sleepover patrons more than Natsu.

"If that's what you want."

The hug was awkward at first, as Natsu basically bombrushed her, but after a while it turned more and more comfortable. A few minutes passed.

Natsu broke the silence.

"Lusheee, I'm injured, Come sleep with me."

The blonde's blush was heavy, her heart beat accelerating, Then she did what any rational female would do, beat the shit out of him.

"OWWW LUCY DAMMIT!" He grabbed his arm.

"SORRY! DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT!"

"But that's what I want… To sleep with you." He pulled her to him again.

"Ugh.. Phrasing Natsu, Phrasing!"

"But that's what we're going to do… I'm gonna lie down, then you lie down, and we hold each other… That's sleeping together."

"Well you're right but… Ugh… Just don't say it like that, say 'Lets cuddle' next time." She continued to blush.

"_Next time_ she says, she's already making plans, I'm out this lovey-dovey apartment." Cana got up feigning a cough. "I gotta go before I catch the feels!" She ran out of the apartment.

"At least he's direct Lu-chan!" Levy shouted while remembering a situation she was in before.

* * *

_"Oi Shrimp! Where are we going!" The iron dragon slayer protested while Levy pulled him._

_"To your house! Pantherlily told me that you're in need of a major clean-up." She continued dragging the dragon slayer (ahaha!)_

_"Alright whatever..." They didn't speak again until they were in front of his door, He unlocked it and let the solid script mage enter. After a few torturous hours of clean-up Levy smiled and sighed at her work, Happy to have been of use, she prepared to leave._

_"Oi Shrimp, Don't leave yet." Gajeel woke up from his nap._

_"Gajeel I'm sleepy!" She whined._

_"You could sleep here then if you gonna make such a big deal about it..." He looked to the side._

_'I'm crazy... A blushing Gajeel?' She thought, she then decided to get him to be direct._

_"But, I need a shower too, I'm sweaty, and I stink..."_

_"You don't need a shower, Quit your complaining, You don't stink..."_

_"Yes I do!" _

_"No you don't! You smell wonderful!" he got up and stood right in front of her._

_"..." Even Gajeel was confused by what he had just said, he didn't know why he got up either._

_"What'd you say Gajeel?" she looked up into his eyes._

_"Erm, No Idea whatcha talkin' about shrimp... But you're right, you stink like hell, Gehe. Go on home. Thanks for cleaning up." He ran back to his couch, all life flew out of him as he went limp, instantly falling asleep._

* * *

****Lucy's POV****

"Damn Gajeel, Can't offer a compliment after all that hard work..." Levy mumbled to herself.

Everyone looked at her for a while, an awkward silence building up.

"Gajeel... I'll talk to him if you want Levy... " Natsu spoke into my shoulder, loud enough so everyone could hear.

Erza pinched herself several times, Levy started waving her hands in front of her face slowly, and I looked at Natsu's hair, making sure it was still pink, confirming that it was actually Natsu that offered to help someone romantically.

He noticed the silence, and decided it was time for him to speak again, "Gajeel really cares about you, But he'll never admit it. Maybe get him alone, on a mission or something and force him to talk to you about it."

Any hope I had was now down the drain_,_ This definitely wasn't Natsu giving out romantic advice, _Good _romantic advice... No, this is an imposter, This is Mira disguised as Natsu. Natsu has been captured by a dark guild, This is an illusion. I'm clearly in a video game and someone's avatar just happened to look like Natsu...

"IMPOSTER! LEAVE! Natsu would never give useful information!" Erza held a sword in her hand, again ready to dish out a proper ass-kicking.

"Ouch... And I'm no imposter! I just overheard Mira saying something like that to someone." He laughed a bit.

Ease flowed throughout the room, It was indeed Natsu, and he was still holding me.

"So can we move to the bed Lucy? My arms are already sore." He whined.

"Ugh, Ok..." I slightly turned to my friends, "Can you all leave so we can talk alone?" I asked politely.

"Suuuure Lu-chan. _Talk_... More like scream." She laughed before waking up our fellow mages and telling them to clear out.

"It's not like that Levy!" I could feel my face heating up, I gave my best-friend a look that said, _'I'll talk to you about it later...' _

The message was successfully conveyed as Levy nodded her head. A few minutes passed, after the mumbling and teasing everyone provided, my apartment was empty except for us two.

"Ahh... C'mon Lucy!" He moved his hands all around my back massaging me softly.

Like he was trying to make sure I was real or something.

He slowly moved his arms down my body, snugly holding me around the small of my back again, we came face to face.

_'PUSH HIM AWAY! AH! BODY MOVE NOW! SOMEBODY HELLLPP MEEE!'_ I shouted internally, but outside of my head all I did was open and close my now dry mouth repeatedly. Before I could actually find anything to say he bent down, picking me up by my waist, his nose tickled my belly button. I feel his lips on me, it feels weird.

"KYA! What are you doing Natsu!?" I shouted and punched his back several times, the hits clearly had no effect. My outburst was interrupted by a collision with my bed, I sat on it, the back of my head hit the window, my arms hung by my side awkwardly.

"Natsu! What the hell!? Don't just throw me on the bed like th-" I couldn't finish as I felt something heavy on top of me, the back of my head now stuck to the window due to the weight.

* * *

****Natsu's POV****

Finally it was just Luce and me, I have so much I want to talk to her about...

That dream.

No.

I don't want to think about that right now...

Speaking of dreams,

I rubbed my arms all around Luce, I bet I look really weird right now,

Just making sure I was awake.

I picked her up by her waist, my nose was on her soft stomach.

She smells _so nice_.

My lips brushed against her, her skin is smooth...

I walked over the bed, navigating though the room using memory alone, I couldn't see anything but Lucy's body.

.

.

.

That's not that much of a bad thing I guess.

I know there are two tables here, I think... I'm so focused on not tripping over anything I don't pay attention to what Lucy is saying... But she's hitting me on my back.

Females are weird.

I take another step forwar-

Damn.

I tripped...

Lucy flew out of my hands but I cant see where, I tried my best to recover.

I failed miserably...

I continued to fall down, face first, my eyes closed.

There's a loud ***BANG***, I think she hit something...

I braced for the fall, putting both hands out in an attempt to hold myself up. I feel the corner of her bed on my knees.

But her bed feels weird... It's more comfortable than I remember, like she got it adjusted for me or something.

She's so nice...

But why do I feel legs?

Legs?!

I'm in between two legs...

Then that means I'm on Lucy... Right?

Then those two pillows on my chest...

And the silk sheets my lips are on.

These are Lucy's lips.

They're so soft...

_'Get up! This is your friend Lucy... __She's gonna scream and kick you out!'_

I really don't care, let this last just a little longer.

I wanna do things, I don't know what but, something.

I wanna wrap her legs around me, I wanna...

_'Get up Natsu!'_

But I want her closer... We're already so close, But this isn't enough... I feel her heartbeat.

It's fast.

_'Natsu... This is wrong.'_

Then why does it feel so right?

I'm having having an in-depth conversation with myself.

I'm so crazy...

My body is saying _**'Fuck yea! Let's do this!'**_

And my mind is saying _'Chill out man... this is Lucy'_

My body is winning...

I feel weird, Like I'm preparing for something.

Am I gonna fight Lucy?

My body is trying to make sounds, It's moving against me.

My rebellious hand slowly moved against her mattress, headed straight to her leg.

_'This is wrong'_

"I don't care..." My hand says through it's consistent movements

It was so close, I could feel the heat radiate from her.

Something touched my lips.

Well something other than Lucy's lips I mean,

I am definitely crazy now...

For a second there, I thought she licked me.

I was _this _close to wrapping her around me,

Then my mind unleashed a haymaker.

_'She's gonna tell Erza...'_

I quickly jumped back, nearly falling again.

She looked at me.

I looked at her... She looks tired, she's gasping for air. I like that for some reason...

Her hair is messy. It looks better that way...

She was grabbing her sheets, her legs are still spread.

Why does she look _so good_ like this?

It's weird, us looking at each other like this.

This is really weird, But I can't really look away.

I don't really want to.

I started talking, but I can't even hear what I'm saying... I'm too focused on her right now... Apparently what I said wasn't helpful, because she just kept looking back at me.

Oh damn.

Rising dragon, HELP!

I can't let her see that... I was desperately hoping I could find a way to fix this thing Igneel used to talk about, I've never felt it until now.

He said there are two ways to rid yourself of a rising dragon.

Pain... Or women.

Lucy is the one that caused this so she wouldn't be of any help.

Pain it is...

I reached up and grabbed my already injured arm, I pinched down as hard as I could, and try my hardest not to cry out from the pain.

Problem solved.

I finally took my eyes off of her and hightailed it outta there.

So close...

* * *

****Lucy's P.O.V****

_'No... This is not life, this is not real! Open your eyes!' _I did, and my gaze fell on something pink, my eyes widened in shock.

Natsu,

The guy that would accidentally destroy a town while chasing a squirrel,

Natsu,

The guy that would look at me naked and laugh,

Natsu,

The guy that was an idiotic, dense, childish but somehow charismatic, reckless, dangerous, short-tempered, adorably oblivious dragon slayer,

Natsu,

The guy that was kissing me.

I panicked mentally, was this an accident? Should I slap him for sexual abuse? Do I... Do I want more?

Yes? No? ... Yes, No!

Of course it's an accident, This isn't a real kiss, Our lips are just touching, no tongue.

But it still felt magical, Not like summoning a spirit, Like my soul left my body and intertwined with his, our bodies no longer _bodies,_ but one... Time stopped, it seemed like nothing existed but him, the world stopped revolving, just for us, just for me. His heat spread across me, I could feel him between my legs, his body against mine, teasing me, It was amazing... This is Natsu though... I don't want this.

_'Push him away'_

I don't really want it to stop either...

I mean, People already tease us, saying we're in love.

We're clearly just friends.

I'm just his friend.

He's just my friend.

Just my strong, funny, sexy friend.

My Natsu... That I'm kissing.

NO! I mean... Natsu. He's just Natsu.

I started to reach my hand up, ready to grab his hair and rock his wor- I mean push him off!

I brought out my tongue swiftly, like a snake would, sliding it across his lips,

He tasted like cinnamon.

I like cinnamon...

His lips are soft.

I like soft things.

I like...

.

.

.

Natsu?

SHUTUP ME!

My hand was still reaching up, slowly making it's way to it's destination...

I didn't have a chance to touch him, he yanked away, his eyes had been closed the whole time, he opened them.

My arm dropped lazily, before I gripped the sheets, I don't know why I did...

Say something

Emotions flashed across his features, I couldn't tell which he settled on, he backed away from me... his face looks like

(0_0)

Say something

"S-Sorry Lucy, I tripped and fell. It was an accident I swear..." is he blushing?

_'Fall again, don't get up'_

Say that! Say something!

"It'd be better if I just left... I'll talk to you later... I'm so, so sorry Lucy..." Is that sadness in his voice? Knowing him he doesn't want to leave.

Comfort him.

He backed away more, grabbing his arm in pain, apparently he really did fall, he may have injured himself even further.

Help him

Say something...

He looks like he's about to cry, He probably thinks he hurt me, My head did hit the window pretty hard...

What a great and considerate guy?

What are you saying!?

What am _I_ saying!?

_'Nothing'_

Say SOMETHING!

He slowly walked out of my apartment, closing the door behind him. Tears started rolling down my face, I don't know why.

I should have said something...

* * *

"SAY SOMETHING! I DARE YOU!" Erza had Elfman in a choke hold.

"Erza, I think he's learned his lesson." Mirajane spoke softly from behind the counter.

"Yeh Erza lighten up! All the guy did was compliment you..." Wakaba said before returning to a heated debate with Macao.

"SHUT UP WAKABA! BEFORE I SLAP THE SMOKE OUTTA YOU!"

"ERZA YOU'RE BEING A BULLY! CALM DOWN!" Wakaba shouted back. The scarlet-haired released her current captive and walked over to the two arguing mages, Wakaba instantly regretted his decision.

She slammed a sword down on their table, shattering it to pieces. She leaned into Wakaba, coming face to face with him.

"Go ahead Wakaba... Be a hero." She spoke menacingly, her gaze cold and venomous.

He zipped his lips after that comment.

"That's what I thought... Punk-ass."

"And as a woman, Being called 'The manliest man out of all the men in ManCity' Is not a fucking compliment!" she turned her attention back to Elfman, choking him again.

"I-I'm sorry Erza... You are not a man!" Elfman yelled as much as he could through the choke hold.

"OH SO WHAT I'M WEAK NOW!? I'LL SHOW YOU!"

Mirajane walked over to Levy, " Hey Levy, What's up with Erza today? I know she's always aggressive but, It's a little too early for her to be like this." her voice showed concern.

"Oh.. Probably because of what happened earlier..."

"What happened!?" She nearly jumped over the bar.

"Oh, well you left last night so you didn't see it but... Natsu came knocking on the door and hugged Lucy for like 30 minutes, then Lucy kicked us out so they could _talk_." she made air quotations with her last word.

An evil smirk grew on Mirajane's face. "You know what that meaaaansss... Natsu is all like '**Fire Dragon's Strip! Fire Dragon's Pelvic Thrust!**'" she giggled to herself while impersonating Natsu as best as she could, Levy laughed outrageously.

"And Lu-chan's probably like **Open, Gate of the Prophylactic! Condomo! **" Levy impersonated her best friend, earning laughs from Mira.

"Stop Stop, No more... I can barely breathe!" Mira had tears in her eyes from all the laughter, Levy was in the same boat. They laughed for about 10 minutes straight.

"Ahh.. That was a good laugh, And now I see, Erza is probably just jealous." Mira wiped away her last few tears.

Levy wiped away a few tears as well, "You think Erza likes Natsu?"

"No, no, not that, I mean she's jealous that Lucy can actually pursue romance..."

"Erza can too though, She is beautiful." Levy stated the obvious.

"I'm sure Erza could get almost any guy she wanted, any guy except for" Mira leaned forward bringing her voice down to a whisper, "He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named..." she leaned back.

"Ohhhh You mean Jellal!?" Mira held her left elbow in her right hand, making an L with her forearms, she shook her head into her hand. They heard footsteps.

"Who said Jellal!? C-(◣_◢)9 " Erza popped up out of nowhere, throwing random punches.

"Whaaaaaaaaahahahahaaaatt? Nobody said his name Erza you're crazyyy..." Levy laughed nervously while looking for Mirajane to back her up. Mira pointed to the solid script mage, making Erza chase her around the guild.

* * *

"Whaaaaaaat Fuyuu?" Haru rubbed her eyes.

"Oneee-channn! Get up!" Fuyu shook his older sister in her chair.

"Here's breakfast sleepy-head." He handed the sleepy woman a beautiful breakfast bento ( Alliteration is always awesome ~(^.^)~ ). The box was full of a variety of fruits, cute slices of ham, an assortment of cheeses and a small cup of yogurt. Haru always thought her younger brother prepared the best bento, they were always the best of both worlds, healthy and delicious.

"Hmmm, this looks excellent!" She dug in.

"Lucky girl... I haven't eaten in days..."

"Sorry to hear th- What the fuck!? H-How are you awake!?" She screamed and jumped out of her chair, nearly dropping her breakfast.

" ._. Well... I went to sleep, then oddly enough I woke up... That happens to me a lot for some reason..." Jomei laughed to himself.

"No fool... I mean, The drugs should've knocked you out for at _least _a week, not a few hours..."

"You drugged me!? What the hell!?" He panicked.

"Nooo, no, Wait. Not like that. You were lying in the snow, losing a lot of blood. Your body showed signs of sleep deprivation and you looked like you were completely exhausted, not to mention the injuries you sustained..." She looked at the ground after her last statement. "I figured if I induced a coma, you could catch up on sleep, and I could replenish your body so you could start to heal normally. "

"I see, I remember now..." He slowly nodded while everything came back to him. "So how serious are my injuries?"

"Um, Your left arm is broken, you have a concussion, some lacerations, your left leg was cut the most, a few broken ribs, a torn ACL on your right knee..." She sounded sad while listing off the injuries.

"Hmm... I see, So I can't walk at the moment... Damn I got my ass kicked." He looked down at his hands. "I should be way stronger than this..." He frowned, Haru didn't like this.

"You are strong! You took on fifty giant monsters! Anyway... Since you're up, Thank you."

He smiled, " No problem... What are you thanking me for exactly?"

"For saving my life Baka..." She still avoided eye contact.

"Didn't you save my life too? I mean, last thing I remember was thinking about death and how close I was to it... Now I'm here."

"I did, after you saved mine though, My little brother helped as well, some of the villagers too, they gave you blood." she pointed to Fuyu.

"Well... You all saved my life after I saved yours... Doesn't that make us even? So don't thank me, Thank _you_." he bowed slightly, his body limiting his movement.

"You said we're even, don't thank me either..." she spoke softly.

"Well technically I'm indebted to you all... Anyone strong could have saved you, only you could have saved me."

"When you put it like that, you're welcome." She looked at him and smiled. He returned the favor.

"But don't think for one second that just because I helped you I like you or something! It's not like that! I am not a damsel that had no life before you came here! JERK!"

" (*~*) Ummmmmm Okay? Pretty sure that wasn't implied but... ok..." He looked at Fuyu before silently mouthing the words, "What the hell?" Fuyu simply laughed in response before walking to the door.

"Onee-chan, He seems like a really nice person, I like him... Don't hurt him too much ok?" He opened the door and walked out after closing it back, leaving the two alone.

It was silent for a while, Jomei decided to be the first to speak.

"Sooo.. Wanna share that bento with me?" He smiled.

"Oh why? So we can eat the same time huh? So our chopsticks can clumsily run into each other, eliciting laughs from us both ? So we can stare into each other's eyes before passionately kissing you hm?! JERRK! WOMANIZING JERK!"

"No! It ain't like that I swear!"

"Why not!? Do you not find me attractive!? JERKIER THAN BEEF!"

He sweat-dropped, "I mean... I'm just super hungry, share with me please? I promise, I'll guide my chopsticks with extreme caution and precision." They both laughed, while enjoying the box Fuyu made. It didn't take too long for them to finish.

"That was great." Jomei spoke while watching at the rain fall outside, the peaceful pitter-patter **(A/N:**(^-^)**)** gracing his ears.

"The weather here is pretty weird huh? It was just snowing earli-" Haru cut him off

"_In Bluebell there is precipitation,_

_It has been since the dawn of creation,_

_All the flowers are blue,_

_And we'll bid you adieu _

_If you dare question our town's hydration_." She glared at him.

"Sorry, But your town's weather is weird... That limerick was alright though."

"Alright!? That Limerick is excellent! It's as old as the town is."

"Well, it's nice... But it isn't funny."

"It's not supposed to be funny it's supposed to be informative!" She shouted.

"But limericks are usually funny... I'll show you, Ok, what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Haru Rider... Yours?"

"Jomei Nakamura... I'd shake your hand if I could, my entire body is sore."

"You _should_ be asleep!" she crossed her arms.

"Whateverrr.. But this is a Limerick, Haru." He cleared his throat.

**(Author Note: Sorry, If you need to know the rhythm, Lines 1,2, and 5 are in anapestic trimeter and lines 3 and 4 are in anapestic dimeter.)**

"_Haru Rider was vicious and vile,_

_And would kick an old lady a mile._

_But she wasn't that slick,_

_She just needed some dick._

_Now she greets everyone with a smile..._ That's a limerick!"

"YOU JERK! I am not vile! AND I DO NOT NEE-"

"My limericks are funny, but usually not true. I think you're pretty nice actually, Nice enough to save my life." He smiled innocently after cutting her off, she laughed a bit.

"I'm still hungry." He groaned, breaking a momentary silence.

"Ughh... Me too..."

"Me three Lifesaver"

She smiled at the nickname.

"Me four Monster-slayer." she leaned forward.

" Me five, Barney!" He did the same.

"Me six, Elsa!" She leaned forward more, both were too engaged in the conversation to notice they were breathing onto each other's lips.

Jomei fell back "I am not Elsa! I don't have Ice powers!" She laughed at his outrage.

A comfortable silence passed.

"Ok monster-slayer... Let's go get something to eat!" She jumped out of her chair, standing over him.

"Oh sure, lemme just walk on this destroyed knee real quick." the two laughed.

"Sorry, I forgot..." She made a face, Jomei knew he wouldn't see that often.

"That was cute... But I can wait until tomorrow to eat, I don't want you walking in the rain."

"T-Thanks, but I don't need you babying me, I do what I want... Jerk." She mumbled.

He laughed at her antics. " I am not a jerk! I'm just protective."

"I'm not yours to protect!" She yelled, breaking the playful atmosphere that developed.

"I'm leaving and getting you something to eat..." She got up, knowing in his condition he couldn't stop her.

"But it's cold out there, you barely have on clothes." He pointed out, his statement had fact to it, she had on a white tank top and a very short dark blue skirt, her sandals were open toed. She was dressed in such a way because she had just gotten back from a vacation, before the incident. It didn't help that Fuyu had taken her umbrella and his coat (that she wore for warmth) when he left: She made it her mission to slap him when she saw him later. She thought for a while and decided she couldn't leave.

"Ughhh... But I'm so hungry, and you really need to eat." She sat back down.

"Wear my clothes then." He chirped optimistically.

" You're wearing a T-shirt! That wouldn't help that much."

"Wear my pants and boots too, they'll keep your legs warm."

"I am NOT wearing your pants! That is weird..."

"Not unless you think it is."

"But your clothes are bloody... It's weird" She looked away, he thought for a while.

"Ok... But you're not going out in that, you'll freeze to death. Just stay here, I can wait I promise..." He barely raised his right hand to put her at ease.

"Alright _Dad_." She laughed, Jomei cringed at her words.

"I am not ol-" His head dropped onto the bed, he looked up to the ceiling. "Those drugs... I think they're late..." He spoke, trying his hardest to stay awake.

"Ohhh That happens sometimes! No wonder, You'll knock out in a while..." She did a quick evaluation.

"Hmm... I do need the sleep..." He felt his consciousness slipping.

"Wait! Promise me something!"

"Whaa?" His lids were extremely heavy.

"Just promise! Say 'I promise'."

Silence...

"Mmmkayy... I promise." He fell asleep.

* * *

****Natsu's P.O.V****

_' I hope Lucy isn't too mad... I did everything right, I apologized for my mistake, I think... I even left her alone for now... I didn't want to leave though... Something about that accident ...like in that dream.' _I thought to myself while walking to the guild. I passed by a few families in the street, it seemed the day was just getting started for them. The sun was now shining it's brightest, the streets slowly being crowded while people went to work and stuff I guess. I wasn't too concerned about what was going on though, I had too much to think about. I said hello to a few familiar faces, people thanked me for my good deeds, Today was a good day to be alive, It was a beautiful day... The fact that I have to die on a day like this... I looked up at the guild I had grown to love so much, I figured I'd enjoy life as much as possible before Lucy told Erza what I did and I get brutally murdered...

I kicked the doors open.

"Heeeeyyy everybody! How ya doin!?" Everyone responded happily. I walked up to the bar with Mira, Levy was running away from Erza for some reason. I shrugged, that'll be me running when they find out about the mistake I made. Mira looked at me weird before she said, " Hey Natsu... How are _you _doing? Excellent I'm sure... Maybe a little tired?"

I said, "I'm okay I guess. No I'm not tired silly Mira, The day just started basically." I laughed, Mira could act really crazy sometimes.

"Hm... So, how did things go with Lucy?" She tilted her head, Mira's so pretty sometimes, just like...

Wait! Did she just say Lucy!?

"Uh... What did you just ask me Mira?" I tried not to sound too concerned, I think I failed.

"I said... How did things go with Lucy?"

Yep

I'm dying today

Goodbye cruel world!

Wait!

I'll just lie!

Sorry in advance Mira.

Really... Sorry

"Ohhh Um... Things went great Mira! We had lots of fun and stuff!" I smiled like I always do, Mira smiled back, she has such a nice smile.

"Lots of fun huh?! That's great, where's Lucy?"

Come up with a lie!

"Oh, She stayed at home... She's pretty tired after all the stuff we did, But ya know me... Super stamina!" I laughed a bit, Mira gave me another weird look before she blushed a bit, she must be sick.

"O-Oh, Well I'm glad you two had _fun_... You didn't stay for round two?" she grinned suggestively.

_The fuck does suggestively mean?_

So she thinks we fought, that would be pretty fun actually... Time to seal the lie deal.

"Ohhh, we had WAY more than two rounds, I destroyed her each time though, I'll have to help her train..." I looked down.

There we go, that was pretty believable. Let's see how Mira reacte-...

When I looked up I tried my hardest not to laugh my ass off. She looked like a candy-cane.

"GaHAHAHAAHAHAAHAA" Sorry, I couldn't help it...

"Mira you look pretty tasty right now! Let me lick you." Apparently Elfman didn't like my joke, He sucker-punched me, Mira didn't like the joke either I guess, since she ran away yelling 'Sec-sue-old a-boost?', She's so dramatic.

"A Man does not talk to my sister like that!" Elfman seemed really pissed, maybe he slept on the upside-down on the floor, Right side up on the bed? erm, Oh! Woke up on the wrong side of the ceiling! No... Something like that...

"I talk to Mira all the time! What's the problem here!?" I shouted.

Erza gave up chasing Levy and ran to us instead.

Shit...

"What _is _the problem here!?" She looked at both of us.

Sorry Elfman, Erza is gonna target me in a while anyway, so take this one for the team bro.

"Elfman just punched me for absolutely no reason!"

She looked at Elfman like 'You feelin' lucky?', he started stuttering.

"W-Well, He said Onee-chan looked tasty, and he asked could he lick her!" Elfman pointed at me like a child telling his mom that his little brother was the one stealing money out of her purse.

Little snitch bitch...

I looked at Erza, again, I tried to hold in a laugh, her face was more red than her hair, if that was even possible.

She looked at me as intimidatingly as she could while her face lit up like a christmas tree.

"Did you really say that?"

Lie again!

"uh... Yes?" That was not a lie...

I wish I did lie, Erza went berserk and I don't use that term lightly.

She did to me what Gildarts would do to a bug, Think about it...

I'll give you time.

Seriously... Visualize Gildarts fighting as hard as he can against a bug.

Now put a little sad Natsu chibi face over the squashed bug...

That's what Erza did... If my arm injuries were healing they damn sure didn't feel like it, I could barely move them, my body just hurts in general.

After I explained myself to Erza, Elfman, and Mira, they all laughed. I even told Mirajane I was lying about the Lucy thing, but I didn't tell her about the accident, just said I left early. I feel bad about lying, but I'd feel worse after another ass-kicking like that...

So after explaining the apparently huge misunderstanding, everyone in the guild laughed.

Hardy fuckin' Har Har...

I can't even laugh right now

It hurts my soul.

My body feels like applesauce...

On a pain scale from one to ten this was about a "somebody please finish me off every second of my tragic existence is pure agony".

Yes I quoted _The Amazing World of Gumball_... Wanna fight about it?

Just give me a few years...

I have to heal first.

Wait... Who am I talking to? I'm just thinking to myself... Did I just challenge myself to a fight?

Damn,

Erza really didn't hold back...

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Until next time. Next chapter with be a bit more serious so enjoy the fluff while it lasts (^.^)**

**XFireDevil23:** Thank you for the fav! You might want to strangle someone in this chapter XD, Long as it's not me we're all good.

**DragonGlass:** Thanks for the follow! Don't hate me for this chapter ** *laughs maniacally***


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